Nirvana
by Wolfwhisperer
Summary: It's been 30 years since the Cullens left Bella, and since her fateful run in with Laurent in the meadow. Now, with a new family, she's settled back into the routine of life. But when the Cullens return, will she be able to handle her hidden emotions?
1. Intro: Hell

**So, I know a lot of people are doing stories like this, but I decided, 'Why not?' It's a pretty intriguing plot, but if there are any similarities it's purely coincidence. I haven't read any of the others. I've only noticed the summaries.**

**Disclaimer: To even consider claiming ownership to a story of Stephanie Meyer's would be a disgrace to Stephanie herself! The fact that I even need one of these is both flattering and insulting!**

I looked around, hoping for some point of recognition in the surrounding trees. They all looked the same. Just giant green poles sticking out of the ground; a giant maze of mossy trees. I listened to the squishing sound of my hiking boots against the forest earth, a monotonous song forming in my ears. I focused on it, instead of my direction like I should've been. Distracting myself had become a habit. My arms were locked securely just under my chest, and my breathing was forceful. _In, out, squish, squash_.

The day droned on and my aching calves reminded me just how long I'd been walking. It would've been nice to have owned a wristwatch. The entire day could've passed by without my knowledge. Even if Forks wasn't the cloudiest place on Earth, the mile high trees did their job just as thoroughly. And still I could find nothing familiar in the foliage I came across.

I became so desparate to hear his voice again that I began to sift through old memories, hoping I'd be able to find my last journey to the meadow without finding him there as well. I didn't do a very good job. So I simply decided not to notice who my companion had been last time. That I had basically gone alone then too.

I remembered being told that we would walk five miles from the truck. If only I knew how many I'd already gone. The treck had taken at least the entire morning, or so. It had to be late afternoon by now. The trees had gotten lighter after a time, but that was due in large part to the sun, my only ally currently fighting the hateful clouds in the sky. I looked up, trying with my weak eyes to see past the canopy of leaves, the clouds' partners in crime.

And, after pulling out of my little memoir, I noticed a brightening in the trees ahead. Not allowing myself to anticipate, I looked for the treetops in the area surrounding it. The leaves had yet to waver in their determination to add to my misery. Still, I decided to investigate the change in light. And that's when I heard it; the first change in my monotonous song. The sound of rushing water was added to the consistent _squish, squish, squish. _I stumbled along at a much faster pace, falling more but never really stopping.

I gasped as I broke through two arched vine maples and into the meadow. The place was definitely the same. No other could be just as perfectly symmetrical. It was just as I remembered it, yet somehow... not. Too early for flowers, too late for snow. The ground was covered in plain, tall grass. The light from above had only gotten a few wats brighter, and I looked up at the deep gray murk above me. It would rain soon. By the look of the clouds I was surprised it wasn't already pouring. The place was suddenly very depressing.

The disappointment that had flooded through me just seconds after my entrance quickly turned south. The dull ache in my chest that I had all but forgotten about during the course of the day flared back up ina blazing fury. Crumpling to the ground, I locked my arms as tight as possible around my midsection, the only thing holding me together. I rolled onto my back, hoping to ease the force gripping me. It helped, but only just.

It was probably a good thing that I hadn't found this place with Jacob. This was the last thing he needed to see. Maybe he already knew how broken I was. Maybe that's why he decided to hang out with new friends._ Normal_ friends. It made sense. The realization only added to my pain.

It took nearly ten minutes to calm my heart-and the hole within it-down, and then I had the task of regulating my breathing. I loosened the grip on my body, relaxing into the damp earth beneath me. Closing my eyes, I pretened that I wasn't anywhere special. Just resting in Charlie's backyard.

The rustling of a tree branch broke through the silence around me. If I had had any concern left for my personal well-being I would've looked up to see who had disturbed my peace and tranquility. But in the dark depression that had become my mind I could find no reason to know the identity of my intruder. There was a chance it was nothing more than a squirrel.

A low, malicious chuckle disproved those suspicions; and managed to catch my attention.

My head snapped up from the soft earth, my brown eyes landing on an olive-toned figure huddling in the shadows. I squinted, hoping to recognize the face. It didn't take long. Those blazing red eyes were impossible to forget.

"Laurent?" I asked softly, knowing if this was indeed who I was looking at, the question wouldn't have needed to bee spoken any louder.

"Bella?" he questioned in a confused, yet unsurprised voice. But it didn't concern me, as it most likely should have. This was my first connection to the mythical world since _they_ left. And so I didn't care that his eyes were red, when they were supposed to be a gentle golden-brown. I didn't care that the relative confusion in his eyes had quickly turned to an indescribable pleasure the instant he realized who I was. And I didn't care that he was cautiously slinking in my direction while I remained frozen across the meadow. My only focus was the cringe in my heart.

"Fancy meeting you here," he continued, for my lapse in communication was to be expected. What did I have to say to him, anyway? It's not like we were old friends or anything special like that. He had merely warned us of James's strength and plot so he wouldn't be underestimated.

Remembering last spring break brought another pang to my racing heart.

"I could say the same," I retorted calmly. I don't know why. He was still advancing; rather slowly for a vampire. "You're an awful long way from Alaska."

"Yes, well, I prefer to hunt away from where I live." So he was hunting? Well I guess that made sense. Forks did contain a vast amount of forest. But why should he hunt so far from his new family? I voiced this question.

"Well, Bella, you see I have a terrible habit of cheating when it comes to my new diet. After all, nobody's perfect."

_Get up, and look calm_. I shouldn't have been so surprised to hear that commanding voice in my head, not angry at me for once. But I couldn't stifle the small gasp that rose from my throat. The corners of Laurent's mouth turned up.

I lifted myself, as placidly as I could manage, out of my lying down position and onto my unbalanced feet. I brushed the dirt, mud, and grass from my body as normally as I could.

"And they just look the other way if you go out of town?" I realized too late that that was the wrong thing to ask a vampire, especially when the two of you are secluded in miles of forest, with no one around as your witness. Not that having someone there would've stopped him anyway. Two people were still no match for one thirsty vampire. Especially with blood as delicious as mine was said to smell. I gulped rather loudly and took a step back.

But his only response was a sinister grin, and a few more deliberate steps in my direction. I could feel the dilation in my pupils as I understood what this now meant. I was a goner.

A snarl ripped through my head, nearly unbalancing me.

"Ah, but that's the beauty of having one of the members of a family are wrapped around your finger. You can pretty much get away with anything you want," he explained. So Laurent was a player? I glared at him briefly, before looking around the forest in a desperate plan to escape. I must not have been as stealth as I would've liked. "Bella, I would've thought you of all humans would know about the impossibility of escaping a vampire."

I looked back to him, placing on my best brave face. Thoughts of Charlie and Renee and Phil and Jacob and all the other members of La Push ran through my brain as I braced myself for what was to come. I knew I was going to die, so why die running like a coward? I would face death head on, literally allowing my life to flash before my eyes-a bitter thought of how this was _his _fault slipping in before I pushed it away.

If I hadn't allowed my heart to slip into his clutches, only to be torn apart, none of this would be happening. I never would've gone searching for the hidden meadow _he_ had taken me to almost a year ago. I would be safely tucked in bed at my house, wishing that I had never decided to move to this reproachful, sodden town. I couldn't blame him, not now. He had tried to warn me the year before that getting involved with him would be dangerous. For one second I considered the possibility that this was his plan, the reason he left. To protect me. But that didn't seem right. How was I any safer now than I had been with him? I quickly refocused my mind on my family and friends as Laurent reached me. With one last, desperate attempt for mercy I asked, "Why are you doing this? Don't you want to _try_ for a better life?"

"I did try. But the temptation was too great to pass up." For emphasis he inhaled my sent with more noise than a vampire could possibly need. I shut my eyes resignedly. I was doomed.

_No Bella, NO!!!_ And his face, scared and angry, appeared in my brain and I knew with out a doubt that this was it.

Laurent's lips pressed onto my jugular, followed by his tongue; tasting, obviously, the blood pulsing just beneath it. It didn't help one bit that said blood had been steadily increasing its pace. I clenched my jaw with all my might as his teeth penetrated my skin, refusing to give him the pleasure of my pain. I barely choked down the scream building up in my throat as I felt my blood flowing into the mouth of this creature.

Charlie, Renee, Jacob, the images of them flashing in a pattern through my mind. Jacob-before he sheared off all of his hair-and his silly grin. Charlie, splayed lazily over the couch as he focused on a game. And Renee, her childish antics and knowing eyes. As I thought of them, I felt a silent tear slip between each of my tightly shut eyelids. I would never see them again.

I felt Laurent's maniacal chortle against my neck. He thought I was crying from the physical agony.

It had been less then two seconds and already I had lost so much blood that my head felt dizzy and I could feel my consiousness drifting away, hopefully to return in heaven and away from all of this misery. Maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to uncover the whereabouts of my _other family_.

Just as I was about to succumb to the blackness waiting to engulf me, a violent snarl ripped through the air behind me. It wasn't from a vampire I was familiar with, but I didn't pay it any mind. I was too far gone to care what was going on around me.

Then, suddenly, Laurent's teeth were ripped from my flesh and the scream I had been trying so desparately to hold in my throat slipped out as I fell to the ground; unbalanced now that the hands of the vampire that had been keeping me standing were no longer bracing my upper back and shoulder.

I was momentarily aware of a fight, made obvious by the snarls and grumbles and cries of anguish, before I began to feel warm again.

With the amount of blood he had consumed an icy chill had crept through my veins and limbs. So this growing warmth in my body, beginning at the neck no less, was a major shock. How was this even possible?! I was even warmer than I had been before he had arrived!

My short relief quickly spiraled downward as I realized that I was getting hot, and I so desperately wanted to remove my jacket. But I feared movement would only cause my body more heat, so I remained perfectly still.

Another moment and I was on fire. I wondered if the forest had gone up in flames and that's why Laurent had stopped feasting (internal shudder). Afterall, fire was the only known destroyer of vampires. I was farely certain, however, that they needed to be in pieces for that to work.

But even if that wasn't true and vampires could be destroyed by simply being lit on fire, that wouldn't explain the fight. It was possible I had imagined it. After all, the meadow was filled with silence now. Were they both dead? Or was it me? My mind was quickly distracted by the flames that had now reached my entire body. I was trapped.

For fear of bringing attention back to myself-how did I know that one of them was simply waiting for a sign of life from me to strike?-I locked my jaw and body into stillness. I would make no sound or movement until I died. I knew there was no living through two vampires warring over my blood plus a personal hell. It would be physically impossible. Even more so than being consumed by a vampire.

And, after what I was positive was an eternity of burning, I heard a whisper. I couldn't make out the voice or the words, only that they had been spoken. An earthquake began underneath me; just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.

And then I was flying. _This must be it_, I thought. I must be ascending into heaven. But something wasn't right. I was still on fire. No, now it was even hotter. Dying was not supposed to be like this. Could it be that I was going to hell?

I had never considered that an option. I always tried to be a good person. Sure, I wasn't a regular church goer, but I had a strong belief in God. I never talked back to either of my parents; I always did my chores and then some. I was a straight A student, never once turning an assignment in late. It was just these past few months that I had really started getting into trouble. But I was only risking my life. Could that be it? I knew killing oneself was a sin, but I never actually did. I just lived on the edge. Was that so bad? People did it all the time! Did they wind up in hell too?

I continued to ponder these questions my entire flight, wondering how far beneath the earth Satin's home was. Could it be at the earth's core, I wondered. And then I was set down. I wanted to open my eyes and look around, see what hell looked like. But I couldn't find my eyelids. I couldn't find anything. I heard more whispering but, same as before, I knew neither who spoke nor what they said. I wanted to feel around, learn my surroundings the Helen Keller way, but I couldn't locate my hands. The same problem came to my feet. So was this what hell was like? Literally burning for all eternity?

Well, this should be fun.

---

The voices were becoming clearer. I could make out the words, just not their creators.

"How long is this supposed to take?!" the voice sounded mad. Pissed even. Could that be Satin?

"I dunno son," another voice asked. At least I assumed it was another voice, considering it had said son after the first voice had spoken. Son? Where am I?!

"She's all over the news," a voice stated-possibly the first, almost as if a reminder to whoever else was around. I was officially lost.

I wanted to ask these voices some of my numerous questions, but I had yet to manage locating any part of my body. It was still just a giant flame.

No new changes came for a long time after.

And then, I could feel my toes, my fingers following quickly in suit.

I was eager to move them, but did not for fear of the flames returning. Maybe I was just growing accustomed to them.

"You know we're gonna have to destroy her once she wakes up," a voice, male I ascertained from the pitch and tone, announced. So I wasn't dead? Or were they talking about destroying whatever happened to be left of my soul? Neither choice sounded appetizing.

"No," a different voice argued. I was fairly sure it was the first voice I'd heard.

"We cannot allow it to continue existing. I heard that when they wake up is when they're most likely to strike," a new voice chimed in, a little more remorse in his tone than the other.

"No."

By now I could feel my arms and legs, as well as the majority of my head. I decided I was laying down, definitely on something soft. I could feel a pillow beneath my head. I could also feel my eyelids. But I refused to open them. I was still on fire, and I didn't want to watch that.

The voices, there were five discernable ones, all male, were still arguing; four against one. A new one stepped in, the second voice I'd heard since coming around.

"I think we should wait and see how she reacts to all of this." I could feel the silence in the air and, though I couldn't be positive, it felt as if all six pairs of male eyes were on me. I felt as if I should be blushing, but didn't think I could manage it.

"Bella?" the first voice asked, breaking the tension. I wanted so desperately to respond, but my chest and neck were still engulfed in painful flames. Though they had ceased burning the rest of my body, I was in no less pain than when they had started. It was as if they had all just moved, I was fairly certain they were heading for my throat. The fact that the pain was increasing upon one direct location almost broke through my resolve of making no sound. Almost.

"How long does this take?!" he asked, it didn't sound like anyone in particular, angrily. "Bella, can you hear me?" he repeated. It was a familiar voice. Yet different somehow. Only my collarbone, neck, and shoulders were left in this blazing pit of flames. It almost felt as if my upper back was rising from the soft bed. Perhaps it was.

"Is she ok?" one of the opponents of my survival asked, sounding more disturbed than concerned.

The flames were dancing around my neck, wrapping it in a necklace of scorching fire. My neck was most definitely hovering in the air, but that was the only part of me.

"Bella, open your eyes if you can hear me!"

'Why on earth would I want to do that?!', I wondered. The first voice sounded desperate now. I wanted to assure him that I could hear him, but the flames were miraculously gaining heat.

My heart, which I was suddenly aware was still beating, was out of control. I should have suffered a heart attack, of that I was certain. But my body must have been too preoccupied to really notice what my heart was doing. The pulse of my blood thudded wildly in my throat, the center of attention for my relentless flames. There was no longer a beating to my heart. Just one long, endless note of pulsing. My back was still suspended in an arch.

My jugular and my fire had declared war on each other. There was no other way to describe it. But it was a lose, lose situation. There was nothing left for my fire to burn except the pulse in my neck, and that caused my blood to pulse uncontrollably through my veins, to keep it from all burning up at once.

And then, as quickly as it had started, my heart slowed. I could hear each distinct pulse again, though it was still wild and unsteady. Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was all over. I could count six beating hearts beside me, but could not hear my own. I no longer felt blood pulsing through my veins. But most importantly, my fire was gone. And for a moment that was all I could focus on; release from my firey hell. I was fully resting on the cushions once more, this time aware of it. It was still warm, but that had to have been from the other bodies within the vacinity. Maybe more, if some of them hadn't spoken.

Once more my hand was engulfed in flames. I pulled it back with such speed I wondered if I had imagined it. But the heat left behind from this strange fire still lingered.

"Bella?" the voice of Jacob Black inquired once more. "Can you look at me?"

And, finally, I complied.

**Ok, so please review and let me know what you think! I'm not sure how often I'll update, probably again tonight since I'm really inspired to write this one!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	2. Civilization

**Wow, like, right after I posted this I went to find it, limiting the search to just the book section, and it was already thirteenth. That's crazy! It makes it hard to get hits and reviews. – Sigh**

**And sorry this took so long! I swear I didn't forget! It's just, like, a week after I posted this story I came down with a nasty week long cold. No joke, I was out of school for the entire week! It was even on my birthday! And then the following week we went to Florida for my aunt's wedding. Then last weekend was my rescheduled birthday party, and this weekend was my cousin's fiancée's bridal shower. I've been busy as hell! I'm also working on a trailer for this story! **

Sighing, I tossed my battered copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' onto the dusty nightstand. It landed on top of 'Crime and Punishment'. There are only so many times you can reread something before it gets old; especially with a picture-perfect memory like mine.

Dejectedly, I picked up the TV remote from its own place on the nightstand and began flipping through the limited supply of channels. The only stuff even halfway decent were the reruns playing on DisneyChannel.

_This is life with Derek_

_This is life with Derek_

_This is life with Lizzie, Edwi-_

"Next."

"_Uncle Eddie, please -"_

Finally realizing the television's evil plot to destroy what little sanity I'd managed to obtain over the course of five years, I pressed the red button, grinning in victory as the machine zapped off. A bit immaturely, I stuck my tongue out. My reflection mirrored back to me through the blank, dark screen.

I looked over at the clock. It read six thirty.

"Well, with my slow vehicle I won't be too early today," I mumbled to myself, walking over to the small dresser on which the television rested. I sent a brief glare at its screen before I opened the top drawer and grabbed a clean bra and panties, followed by a random shirt and jeans combo from the bottom drawer. Then I sidestepped over to the table and ran a brush through my hair with help from the slightly cracked mirror above it.

Even as a vampire, I decided, I looked plain. None of my clothes were extraordinary like the- like other vampires I'd seen. I didn't exactly have the most pronounced assets. And sure, my face was beautiful like everyone else's. But it was far from being considered exceptional. Not for my kind, at any rate.

Just before I stepped out of my motel room, I slipped on the pair of black converse sneakers that I had kicked off haphazardly earlier in the night-or rather last night-after hunting. I shuddered at the memory of the flavor. Ick.

I grabbed the keys to the truck off the end table. I couldn't really call it _my _truck, seeing as I wasn't the rightful owner.

It looked almost exactly as my old truck had, only a slightly more present-day body and a little less rusted paint. In actuality, the technical owner probably thanked me in the long run. He was a kid, no older than seventeen, that lived in the town I had been working in. He'd stopped in the store on a regular basis to flirt with me. This really pissed me off more than anything, only adding to my decision of grand theft auto.

The multiple times he'd asked me out, I would look at that truck of his in the parking lot before rejecting him. That clearly didn't help his overall appreciation of the vehicle.

I'd planned out the whole ordeal very precisely. At four thirty in the morning, I silently crept into the house and nabbed the keys. After testing them each in the door of the truck, and finding the correct one, I snuck back in and replaced the other keys. It seemed very unusual that any human should leave their door unlocked, but I didn't question it. Clearly it was a sign that I was destined to steal the thing.

Of course even a vampire, with all their stealth and speed, couldn't prevent the roar of the engine coming to life. I had only just made it down the street when I heard the shouting of the father behind me.

But that was only part A of my master plan. The father of my admirer was a very strict man. He didn't want his son to think he could get anything in life just because they had a little cash. So he'd generously handed the car down to his son as a present the day he got his license. So I could expect nothing less than him calling the cops to report it stolen. And, with all the power and influence he had in the small town, it wouldn't take long for the police to catch up with me.

So I drove my newly acquired form of transportation for a good two hours before stopping in my desired town.

Sticking to my careful scheming, the woman at the counter was practically asleep on her propped up hand. I cleared my throat when I reached her.

"Huh, what?!" she cried, her eyes snapping open as her head whipped around. I plastered on my best polite smile and batted my lashes a few times. "Oh, um, how can I help you?" she asked, blinking a few times at the change of lighting. Clearly she missed the dark comfort of her eyelids.

"Hello," I began with the utmost of manners. "My name is Bella Swan. I'm here to pick up my new license plates." I let my ears wander to the streets and beyond, listening for the sound of a siren or something that would convict me of the crime I had committed.

"Uh." It was always painfully obvious when the beauty all of my kind were cursed with had affected our supposed 'prey'. "Right, of-of course. Right away Miss Swan."

She turned to the computer and began typing my name, I could tell from the keys she pressed. I smiled patiently when her eyes turned to subtly glance at me. They didn't stay on me for long.

After momentarily reading the screen, she ran into the back and immerged a few minutes later with two license plates in a small plastic wrap. I read over the writing inscribed in the metal. _Bells._ I wasn't exactly the most creative of vampires.

I grinned, flashing my teeth a little dangerously to the woman whose name I didn't particularly care to learn. "Thanks." I handed her a small amount of cash.

"No problem."

I sped away as quickly as I could in the noisy old truck. I was suddenly aware of why my truck had annoyed-others. It was agonizingly slow.

The minute I pulled into the parking lot of the local Howard Johnsons I pulled out my new license plates. I wasted no time in replacing them on the front and back of the truck, barely maintaining human speed.

Now, as I drove down the slight damp dirt road, I realized that the crime had been necessary. And as far as my species goes, it was barely even a sin.

I reached the neighboring town and quickly spotted the Cub Foods. I never ceased to chuckle at the irony; a vampire working in a human food source. Shaking my head, I pulled into my usual parking space and checked the clock. I still had five minutes. I toyed with the idea of turning on the radio, just to check the weather and see if I'd need to leave work early, but rejected the idea. I had no clue what the weather station for the radio was around here, but I was certain it would entail sifting through many stations of sappy love/breakup songs to get there. I chided myself internally for not checking it on the TV. Knowing my luck, though, the weatherman would more than likely have the most perfect of names. And I wouldn't have been able to handle that.

I had managed to kill almost a minute of time with my ponderings, and looked up from my lap to see that the spot next to me had become occupied. Cheryl was just unlocking the door when I popped up behind her.

"Morning, boss," I greeted cheerily, chuckling at the spike in her heart beat and the jump she took.

"Oh, Bella. You know I can't stand when you do that." But the corners of her mouth had turned up into the slightest of smiles. I grinned back.

"Note to self, don't greet boss," I teased as the two of us entered the store. She chuckled briefly, each of us grabbing our mandatory red aprons. "So is Jared coming in today?" I asked hesitantly. Jared was yet another hormonal teenage pursuer.

"Nope. I hired a new girl."

And that's when I heard it.

"Good Morning Mrs. Harmon!" a delightfully melodic voice addressed from the entrance of the store. I turned to see a beautiful, tiny, pale girl standing in the entrance to the store.

**(I so desperately want to end the chapter here! But I can't. It's too short. Consider yourselves lucky!)**

"Good morning Sara!" my boss welcomed. The girl, Sara, grabbed the third apron in the entryway. "Bella, this is the new girl, Sara. Sara, this is Bella."

We shared a knowing look, Sara and I, silently agreeing to meet up later and chat. We extended our hands, shaking them in polite greeting. Up close, she wasn't as tiny as she had appeared. Of course she had perfect bone structure, same as any of us, but she really was only an inch shorter than me.

The day passed by irritatingly slow, even as far as most days go.

"So, Bella, how about we go out to lunch together and get to know each other?" Sara asked, much louder than the other questions she'd been asking me over the course of the morning, at exactly noon-the end of both of our shifts. Clearly she was setting up our excuse for leaving together.

"Sure." We walked over and, just as we were about to hang up our aprons, noticed the sun shining in all its trapping glory. We shared a brief look of panic before an idea struck me. "Or we could just eat here. There's an employee lounge in the back." I noticed Cheryl was staring strangely at me. "The food here is just too good to pass up," I explained, grinning. And I'm sure the residents of the hospital I donated all the food I bought would agree.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," the red-eyed vampire agreed. We walked to the back of the store, stuck at a human pace due to Cheryl's lingering.

"Well, I'm going out to eat, and I'm locking up while I'm gone," she announced, more loudly than necessary. At least for us.

"Sure, sure," I called back. I smiled slightly at the old expression I'd picked up from Jacob Black. It had been a while since he visited. I'd have to call him soon.

We entered the back room and I flipped on the light-an old habit-nearly screaming as I turned to see two blonde figures already sitting at the table.

But Sara's tone was merely scolding. "What are you two doing in here?!"

"We came by to warn you about the weather," the female stated casually, unfazed by Sara's harsh tone. "Then I decided it would be more fun for you to find out on your own, but when we turned to leave it was too late." Then she turned to me. "I'm Wendy, by the way."

"Bella," I offered as we shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. This is my brother Devin." And it was obvious that the male and female were identical looking, even as far as vampires go.

He jerked his chin at me and I smiled slightly.

"So, Bella," Sara started off after we took the two vacant chares left around the table. "I've noticed something rather curious. Your eyes…" she drifted off, knowing she would need no more explanation than that.

"Why are they gold and not red?" All three of them nodded. "I don't drink human blood," I informed them bluntly. I watched as three pairs of red eyes bugged out at me. I was used to this. I had run into a nomad or two on occasion.

"How could you possibly survive?" the male, Devin, asked incredulously.

"On animal blood. I-I knew a coven once that did that, so I decided to try it," I explained using half-truths and evasions. "Um, so what brings you guys here?" I asked before they could notice my hesitation in the answer.

"Trying to earn some money, you?" Wendy responded, then asked.

"Same. Where are the three of you staying?"

"We got a nice little house on the outskirts of town." It was Sara who answered this time.

"Yeah, our background story is that we came home from a boarding school for the summer and need tuition money for next year," Devin added.

"Oh. Mine is that I moved in with my grandma during the year and needed the job to help pay her hospital bills. She conveniently dies just before the start of the following school year." '_And also a week before my human birthday_,' I added as an afterthought.

They nodded. "So where do you stay?"

"In the next town over, at a motel."

"You should come live with us!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Oh, um, that's ok, thanks," I declined. I didn't really want to get attached to anyone again. Especially not vampires. They don't tend to cling to certain things for very long. No, I was much better by myself.

"Oh come on! It would be so much fun! And then I wouldn't be stuck as the third wheel to these two," Wendy jabbed her thumb in the direction of her brother and Sara, who I only just realized were holding hands.

"Really, I'm fine," I assured.

"Why, you like staying in motels?" Devin asked.

"No, it's just-" and that's when I noticed the look on Sara's face. "Why is she glaring at me?" I asked worriedly.

"What are you thinking about _right now_?" she asked, ignoring my question and not breaking her concentrated gaze.

"I'm wondering why you're staring at me."

"That's it?" she questioned, sounding bewildered.

"Yea," I confirmed after searching my brain for a fraction of a second.

"Huh."

"What?"

"She was trying to convince you to come and stay with us," Wendy explained.

"By glaring at me and asking me random questions?"

"No, by influencing your thoughts."

"You can do that?!" I asked, my turn to sound bewildered.

"Yeah. As a human I'd always been very persuasive."

"And it didn't work on me?" I guessed.

"That's the first time!" she exclaimed, suddenly very frustrated.

"Yours isn't the only ability that hasn't worked on me," I admitted, turning away so they wouldn't notice the pain in my eyes. But apparently, they bought tickets to my train of thought.

"Is this about that other family you knew?" Wendy asked? I nodded, not trusting my voice but feeling no need to lie to them. "What happened?" I shook my head.

"Why?"

"Too painful," I gasped, already losing the control over my memories. Instead of dulling along with the rest of my human memories, the pain that shot through me whenever I thought of… them, was sharper than ever. Only magnified because it had traveled with me on my path from mortal to immortal.

"What'd they do?!" Wendy asked, now very intrigued.

With a sigh, I decided to let these three strangers in on my most painful thoughts. Why not?

I began the story, talking at an inhumanly pace so that we wouldn't still be talking when Cheryl returned, of my mother leaving Forks with a baby me. I continued to her wedding Phil, followed by the pain I saw whenever he left for baseball while she stayed behind with me, and how that led to me moving back to Forks.

This was the harder part. I slowed my pace slightly, clutching my sides so the hole in my stilled heart wouldn't tear me to shreds as I told of my first glimpses into this supernatural world. Dry, vampire crying escaped me, and I felt like blushing from embarrassment. But none of them looked scornful, but instead each face and voice held an air of concern for my feelings. Nothing more. And that felt… good.

The tale continued its painful path, leading to my disastrous eighteenth birthday party, followed by the three days of seclusion I received from-my boyfriend. (Even those words stung.)

I suddenly wished that one of these three vampires could read minds, so I wouldn't have to put in words the pure agony of the next chapter in my story. My last memory of _him_.

It took a good five minutes to quiet the sobs erupting from my chest, Sara and Wendy each holding one of my hands while Devin glared silently at his shoes.

"Wow, he did all of that?" Sara asked confoundedly. I nodded, not yet regaining control of my voice.

"But that's so…" Wendy searched for the right word, "mean! You should listen to some music to calm down," she offered, already reaching into her pocket and retrieving an iPod.

"NO!" I immediately protested, my head shaking back and forth violently.

"Trust me, it helps." At my terrified look, she added, "Just try it."

With a shaky, uncertain hand I grabbed her offered music player, sticking one of the buds in my ear. After another hesitant second, I pressed play.

A soft, but not slow, guitar sounded automatically, followed three seconds later by drums. I knew the song, but couldn't place words with it. That is, until they started after the six and a half second musical introduction.

_You took my hand_

_You showed me how_

_You promised me_

_You'd be around _

_Uh huh, that's right_

I felt the torture rip through my heart once again, but Wendy's look of assurance saved me from another episode.

_I took your words_

_And I believed_

_In everything you said to me_

_Yeah huh, that's right_

_If someone said three years from now_

_You'd be long gone_

_I'd stand up_

_And punch them out_

_Cuz they're all wrong_

'More like five years, but yeah' I agreed in my head. P!ink had a very solid point.

_I know better_

_Cuz you said forever_

_And ever_

_Who knew_

I was strongly appreciating the sarcasm in her voice. No one deserved what I'd been through. I just hadn't realized it until I opened up. I began to bop my head to the beat of the song.

I smiled and laughed at all the sarcastic jibes, which conveyed perfectly how I had honestly once believed in those exact words. And I could feel something inside me changing. I'd always been 'self-sacrificing', and where had that gotten me? Scrounging for dollars in the smallest and cloudiest towns in America, limited amount of thoughts allowed in my brain. Well, it was time to change that.

_Who knew? _

**Ok, so I randomly got inspired to write this chapter after, of course, finding that P!nk song. Thanks to Cherette and her story Guarding It All. Unfortunately, I didn't fully listen to it til about ten o'clock my time, and then both my parents felt the need to spend an excessive amount of time on here. It gave me time to plan, but I wanted to WRITE! So, here's the product. More exciting things happen in the next chapter, but I need reviews before I can get to them. So please type away!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	3. Beginning

**Alright, big excitement everyone! We're starting Edward's POV today! YAY!!! (It's actually not that exciting.) But it won't be long; I'll just add him in at little points in the story to tell us what some people are thinking. I actually think I'll keep him around for a while though. Hmm, now what to do with him…;P **

It was times like these that I despised my perfect memory, another cruel side effect to add to the list of cruelty that comes with my species. Another one: the ability to think multiple thoughts at one time. So, while I was able to sit in the forest and hear the waves from the river in front of me crashing onto the boulders surrounding mine plus the thoughts of all the creatures around me, I was also able to wallow in self loathing whilst simultaneously staring at the last image I had of my purpose in life.

_Her hands, shaking from the chill of the slight breeze around us, reached out to me. How badly I wished to return the gesture. But that wouldn't be good; for either of us. So I grabbed hold of wrists, pinning them to her side._

_As I leaned in to press my cold, dead lips to her heated forehead one more time, I spared a glimpse at her face. It was crumpled in pain, her intelligent brown eyes hidden behind their protective lids. _

_After the briefest of seconds I had to pull away. If I stayed any longer I knew it would be my undoing. A hint of shock worked its way onto her hurt, confused face. And if I hadn't had her best interests at heart, I would have literally hated myself for the rest of her life._

"_Take care of yourself," I breathed. _

And that's what stopped me now. Because humans couldn't die from hurt feelings. No, but they could most definitely die from vampires, and all the trouble that comes with them. Before I could slip back into my masochistic state, I reached into the pocket of my jacket and retrieved my MP3 player, placing both buds into my ears.

I sighed in relief as the guitar notes and drum beats momentarily took control of my ever-drifting attention. Lyrics were even easier to focus on.

_I close both locks below the window_

_I close both blinds and turn away_

_Sometimes delusions aren't so simple_

_Sometimes goodbye's the only way, oh_

This was true. I had deluded myself into believing I was what was best for Bella, all so that I could have a reason to be around her. Another pang stabbed at my non-beating heart. Yes, leaving her had been the right decision. Even this music group agreed with me. The chorus of the song, though, took a lot more convincing before my brain could actually accept it as the truth.

_And the sun will set for you_

_The sun will set for you_

_And the shadow of the day_

_Will embrace the world in gray_

_And the sun will set for you_

How could dying possibly be what was best for her?! A world where Bella didn't exist hardly seemed like a world worth living in. I sure as hell wasn't planning on sticking around it too much longer after she left.

I had to remind myself that I had lived on Earth for a good ninety years before Bella had even been born. But the annoying voice of contradiction always managed to pop in and add 'Yes, and how good were those ninety years exactly?' And of course, that voice always managed to sound like the single person that hated me more than anyone else for forcing us out of Forks. Pesky was the only word to describe it.

Plus, humans were supposed to die. That was the course of nature. The way things were meant to be if we didn't exist. Yes, Bella would be human. That was the best thing I had ever been able to offer. It saddened me to realize I wouldn't have had to offer that if I had never been around.

But when that dark day did arrive, my world would most definitely be embraced in gray.

As I continued to sit and pick out the multitude of similarities between this song and my life, I let my finger wander down the touch screen to the photo section. I had no idea why I always did this. It only made everything that much more unbearable. But that was just me, being a masochist again.

I pulled up my album from Forks Junior Prom of 2005 and stared at the single picture on the screen; Bella and I arriving at the event.

I sighed as I stared at her lovely face. Of course my flawless memory could piece it together perfectly whenever I wished, but something about the proof that she had, at one point, been mine made my stone cold heart melt… for all of three seconds.

And then I turned cold again. My mind never did care for my happiness. The agony of realization at just how wrong that picture was had never decreased. Each time I stared at it, the same guilt crashed down on me.

Bella, in all her humanly glory, standing next to me, a terrible creature, holding my hand was not a model idea. It just looked so wrong. She was an angel, and I was a monster. Angels and monsters should never coexist. But, because I felt so guilty, I sat and stared at the picture for another long minute. It was a rather ironic punishment for myself. The proof of what had once been, of my happiest days, certainly should not have been a punishment, but rather a gift. However, the immense shame that came with it was also the perfect torture. I sighed.

Even with the song in my ears blasting at full volume, I was able to hear the snap of a dry twig coming from a hundred yards away. I didn't need my extra talent to know who it was.

_Hmph_, she thought at me. She was perched on a tree branch almost directly above me.

Sighing, I greeted her. "Hi Alice."

"Hmph!"

"What?" I asked her impatiently. I wasn't in the mood to put up with her attitude. And the fact that she almost always blocked her thoughts didn't help the lack of tolerance for my 'little sister'. I certainly didn't appreciate constantly staring at the numerous possible outfits she could put together with her wardrobe whenever I tried to know what was going to happen in the future.

Instead of answering me when I turned to look into her glaring eyes, she simply focused on a vision. I was running through the forest at top speed. Trees jumped out of my way, fearing for their lives as I ran faster than I ever had before.

Then she skipped ahead. I was in forks, at the window of a painfully familiar white house. Of course she couldn't still live there, but perhaps she had stopped by for a visit. I knew that's what vision me was thinking, because those had been my thoughts not ten minutes ago.

I hadn't known what I would've expected to find. Bella would be forty-eight by now.

Before I could delve further into the mind of Alice, she shut me out, now sifting through her many different pairs of black ballet flats to go with the outfit she had finally picked out for tomorrow.

"I was on my way to see if I could come, but then the vision turned and instead I found you here, listening to Linkin Park," she explained in her chastising, symphonic voice.

"Because I decided to stay here. Like I do every time," I reminded her. Her face fell.

"I was hoping this time would be different." I immediately felt bad. I had taken Alice's best friend away. I had also taken Bella's. But it was necessary! "Oh well, it's probably for the best that you don't check up on her."

I was about to ask her what she meant by that, seeing as she never agreed with me, but she was already gone. She must have finally come to her senses.

--

I don't know how long I sat in the forest, listening to 3 Doors Down and songs similar to theirs, but after a time I realized that I should go back to my family. I got up and turned in the direction of our house. Along the way, I stopped for two deer and a fox. Best to be prepared for tomorrow.

It didn't take long after that for me to reach our new home; a four story structure with red brick paneling on the ground level, white wood paneling on the other two stories, and black shingled roof. The basement had been turned into a game room-slash-home theatre, complete with 65" plasma screen television, black leather love seats, and thick red carpet that would've been comfortable enough to sleep on, had any of us needed to sleep.

The second floor was our ground level, containing a kitchen with marble countertops, mahogany cupboards and matching wood floor; a dining room that extended from the kitchen with a mahogany table and eight chairs; and a family room with a large white couch with a chase that, if necessary, could fit the seven of us, plus a matching love seat and one white and one red chair, all centered around a mahogany coffee table with a vase of red roses in the middle. The couches and the white chair all had red throw pillows, and the red chair had a white one.

The third story, occupied by Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie, used to have five bedrooms and two bathrooms, but Esme took out enough walls to make two bedrooms on each floor, the third spare room being turned into a conjoined closet for Alice and Rosalie. Each bedroom was connected to a bathroom, same as the fourth floor. The only difference between the two was that the fourth floor hadn't had a spare room to connect mine to Carlisle and Esme's.

I trudged out of the woods slowly, in no hurry to stare into the sympathetic and/or pissed off looks of my family. Some of them still hadn't gotten over my forcing them out of Forks.

I took my time admiring the white columns standing on either side of the white door as I carefully ascended the rounded stone steps that led to said door. Finally, I couldn't put it off anymore.

"Hello Edward," Carlisle greeted with a pleasant smile. I returned it, though with more sadness than I'd intended. I just didn't smile.

Esme wrapped me in a welcoming hug, and this only added to the guilt that had yet to disperse from earlier. I patted her back with as much love as I could before she pulled away. I ignored everyone else as I raced up the two flights of stairs and down the hall to my room.

It truly looked like the stereotypical vampire bedroom. The only thing missing was the coffin. It probably would've been fine if not for the black curtains I never opened. The room was almost pitch black, save for the chrome lamp I had on over my black desk. Next to it was my ridiculously large red bookshelf that I had stocked with my CDs and other musical supplies.

I plopped down onto the solid black comforter of my bed, leaning back against the array of gold and black pillows resting on a black leather headboard to sit and wallow in my guilt. And what better way than to make a list of reasons for why I should feel so ashamed?

Reason number one: emotionally harming Bella. Or more specifically, entering her life in such a way that I would need to feel guilt for leaving her.

Reason number two: abandoning my family for well over a decade after aforementioned crime. Everyone, even Rosalie and Alice, had missed me terribly; something I hadn't been able to realize until after I returned and could hack into their brains.

Reason number three: forcing Jasper to control his talent so he couldn't feel my emotions. With the amount of guilt radiating from my being, he simply couldn't control anything else around him. There had been an entire month of us all apologizing to one another after my return until Jasper managed to get it in check and work towards blocking me out.

There were many more, but I already felt like exploding with only those three reasons running through my brain. Finally I picked up my gold acoustic guitar from its place on my 'book' shelf and began plucking away sadly at the chords.

By the time the following morning had rolled around, I had composed three songs filled with depression and guilt, adding an accompaniment of piano, the eloquent instrument resting near my closed off window, at appropriate intervals.

With a sigh, I got up and walked over to my closet. Alice had decided to coordinate our outfits for this first day at our new school. Mine was, since she knew I would go with no other colors, a black Armani hooded sweatshirt that, for some unknown reason, zipped up on the right instead of down the middle. She didn't care what I wore under that, so I pulled on a plain white undershirt first. The only jeans, so she claimed, that would go with the sweatshirt were the faded grey jeans that she had picked out online; where most of her shopping for designer clothes was now done. Then I pulled on the only shoes I would let her buy me from that store, a pair of black leather and fabric sneakers.

Not caring what the rest of me looked like, I trudged my way to the second floor to greet the rest of my family. Emmett and Rosalie were in white, per Alice's orders, and she and Jasper were in gray. I silently shook my head at my sister.

"Good morning Edward," Carlisle greeted.

"That was some lovely music last night," Esme complimented. I smiled sheepishly. Of course they heard it.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"So, you kids have the background story ready?" Carlisle asked.

"Yup," Jasper began. He was usually the one to come up with these things, since he was our most expert planner. Not that our story ever really changed too drastically. "Carlisle, Rose and I are your niece and nephew. You took us in when we were four after our parents, your sister Clarice and her husband Mark Hale, died in a car crash. You had already adopted Emmett and Alice after you saved them, but could not save their parents, from dying in an armed robbery.

"Edward's father died when he was two during military duties," leave it to Jasper to bring in military, "and his mother, Esme's sister Elizabeth, died ten years later from breast cancer." Jasper looked rather proud of himself, and Alice kissed him on the cheek for a job well done.

"Jasper," Esme stated, "I think that may be your best story yet!" She briefly wrapped one arm around his shoulders, squeezing them slightly. His mouth turned up in a half-smile, and I could tell he was a tad embarrassed.

"Come on, we don't need to be late for our first day of high school!" Emmett teased. We all chuckled slightly, save for Rosalie who groaned. After kissing her temple and wrapping a soothing arm around his wife's shoulders, Emmett grabbed the keys to his truck, seeing as he was 'the only one old enough to drive' and the five of us headed out the door, calling out goodbyes to our parents as we left.

As Emmet pulled his giant gray and red truck out of our enormous garage I plugged my headphones into my ears and pressed shuffle, settling in for our two minute drive.

It would've been a much shorter trek if we hadn't gotten caught in the morning traffic; most of whom coming from neighboring towns on their way to work. Despite a decent population of 10,435, the town's geographical size was no more than 10.6 miles. And only 6.1 square miles of land.

I briefly wandered through the minds of my siblings, looking for something interesting to think about.

_I can't believe I have to be a sophomore again. Stupid immortality._

I didn't stick around too long in Rosalie's mind. I had my own bitterness to worry about; I didn't need her petty drama on top of it.

Alice was sifting through visions of the newest Ralph Lauren collection, the one that was due out in three weeks, so I didn't stay there either. Jasper was attempting to figure out how to plant the story in our new classmates' heads, while not really having to talk to too many people. He was mostly leaning towards having them find out through the grape vine. _First Carlisle spreads it around at the clinic, then the nurses and other doctors go home and tell their families, then the kids spread it around_. He nodded to himself, satisfied.

And Emmett was internally and externally singing along to the rap song on the radio.

Unlike the other towns we'd lived in, Astoria, Oregon was a bit more luxurious, so our cars wouldn't stick out too much in the school parking lot. Unfortunately, Emmett's was the largest vehicle there when we arrived. All eyes were trained on us as he pulled into a space near the exit.

Then came the part we all dreaded. Letting the students have their first look at the Cullens. We each took three deep breaths before stepping out of the vehicle.

The thoughts were one giant wave of _Oh. My. God._ Some of the students pulled out their cells to take pictures, sending them to their friends to see if anyone recognized us from anything. I chuckled. However torturous this was, it never ceased to entertain me.

The five of us, one big, intimidating group of new kids, stopped by the main office. Grabbing our schedules, the three 'sophomores' began to compare classes, seeing who would meet up where and at what times. Alice and I didn't need to. She could already see what classes we had together.

"We have second period Spanish, fourth period Algebra, fifth period English, and freshmen lunch." Alice did a double take. "Wait, they split lunch up by grade?!"

"That bites," Emmett exclaimed. Then he noticed something on her schedule that he'd seen on Rosalie's. "Oh, but not gym class I see." Answering Rosalie's confused eyes, he added, "You and Alice have gym together, third hour."

After the briefest moment, Alice confirmed it. "Yup. See ya then!" And she skipped off to her first period art class.

I trudged to my first period biology class, ignoring the gasps, whispers, and thoughts that followed me.

Arriving at the science room, I silently handed my slip to the teacher. "Oh, so you must be one of my new students. Yes, here we are," he stated consulting a list that appeared to be a seating chart. "Mr. Edward Cullen. You are in row one seat three." He pointed to the only available desk in the classroom.

Without acknowledging his gesture I took my seat next to a tan boy with ear length black hair.

"Hi," the kid offered cheerily, not the least put out by the hard look I could see staring back at him through his mind. "My name's Gabe, and you are?"

"Edward," I answered tersely, annoyed by the obvious persistence in his head.

"So I noticed that you have quite the family. Are you all related?"

And so it begins.

**Alright, we'll get back to Bella next chapter. But PLEASE let me know what you think! Seriously, all I really want is a few more reviews! I'll make my goal to have a total of ten for this story before I update. That's only four for this chapter!**

**And also, I've posted character pictures on my other account. There's a link to it at the top of my profile, or the penname is on my favorites. It's simple Wolfwhisperer's Links. And the trailer is up on YouTube.**

**Luv Wendy! :)(: **


	4. Death

**So, I caved. I got three out of the four reviews I SO KINDLY asked for. But I just couldn't wait. I do, however, know that at least 22 people out there have not reviewed! Please, it really doesn't take that long, and it makes my day! PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

"Are you sure you wanna do this?!" Jacob asked, shouting over the roar of the plane's engine. Not that that was really necessary. But he never seemed to catch on that I was now an advanced, immortal being capable of even more than him.

"Yes!" I called back, knowing all too well how good he could hear me. But Jake was always so much fun to mess with. "You're not trying to back out on me, pussy?!" I taunted, grinning maliciously at the scowl that formed on his face.

"Hell no! Let's do this!" And then the two of us, eyes closed, jumped out of the tiny jet, suspended at thirty-thousand feet. And as my best friend and I fell freely through the supposed chilling air, not that it affected either of us, I allowed myself to wallow in the events of the past few days.

Things had been going greatly with my new family. Of course, as most things do, it started out pretty rocky. The four of us, Wendy, Devin, Sara and I, found it very difficult to enter high school without parents. Or buy a house, for that matter.

I hadn't planned on staying with them for long. We lived separate lifestyles, and conflicts were bound to arise because of it. Imagine my surprise when, not a month after I moved in with them, they asked to join me on a hunting trip into the forest.

"We're tired of being monsters," Sara had explained, the twins nodding their blonde heads in agreement next to her. "If we would've known there was another way, we would've started it a long time ago."

Since their bodies weren't still, uh, digesting the blood from their previous human bodies, they're eyes turned gold after just one trip. Sara had explained to Cheryl the next day that she had worn those red contacts as a joke, and hadn't been able to get new ones until the night before. Wendy and Devin told their significant bosses that same story.

That autumn, instead of 'killing' my 'grandmother', Wendy demanded I tell my boss that my mother had signed me up for the same boarding school as them. We were all gonna be seniors.

"I won't let you be depressed anymore," she stated simply when I'd asked why. "No more deaths."

And after twenty five years of living with them, I'd like to think I'd become a master at hiding my true, unheeding pain from my family. Hell, most days I could manage to hide it from myself.

After nearly a decade with my new family, two more vampires became intrigued by our lifestyle; Simon Johnson and his daughter Erin. Simon was a respected lawyer in the rather large town we'd moved to, having enough money saved to have a decent lifestyle in the medium sized city.

It had been a fairly easy transition for them, I think. All five of them had previously been living near or amongst humans prior to the diet change.

We were currently living in our third town, and it was by far our favorite. However, just as we were settling into a routine, I got the phone call that changed my life.

_We were sitting around the living room, watching some drama show to pick up ideas for our next move; and some good excuses to explain any bizarre behavior our classmates might pick up on. Just after Wendy and I had settled on a decent show, my cell phone rang. _

_Not too many people had my real number-all the boys that asked received the number for the local 'rejection hotline'- and even if it hadn't been for the fact that Temperature by Sean Paul was the ringtone of only one of my contacts, I still would've known who it was that was calling me._

_And, despite my natural vampire instincts, I answered._

"_Hey, Jacob, what's so important that you need to interrupt me right before Judy is about to admit to her drug obs-"_

_But he cut me off, clearly not in the mood for our typical banter. "Bella, listen, it's Charlie." My lightheartedness left instantly, replaced with worry._

"_What happened?" I asked softly, afraid it would somehow crack if I spoke too loudly._

"_His tumor's spread to his lungs. They don't think he's gonna make it."_

_If I weren't an immortal being with an unchanging body, tears would've sprung to my eyes in that very moment. But, all I could do was sit there, stunned into silence, for at least three whole seconds. "Jacob, where are you?" I finally managed to ask._

"_I was up in Maine with the guys when I heard. Seth and I are on our way to Forks now."_

"_I'll meet you there." And then I pressed the end button._

"_What's wrong?" Sara asked, speaking with the concern I could see on everyone else's faces._

"_I-it's my dad. He's in the hospital. I have to go see him."_

_I took off into the trees behind our house before any of them could stop me. It was irrational, taking off to see Charlie after thirty years of letting him believe I was dead. How would I even explain myself?! 'Oh, hi daddy. Yeah, I didn't real drive off a cliff all that time ago. Nope, I was changed into an immortal creature of destruction because I was too tasty for someone to pass up.' Not likely._

_I decided not to dwell on that. I would just let the chips fall where they may and see what happens._

_I reached Forks in a little under an hour, and that's when things got tricky. I had to get into the town without being spotted leaving the forest. So I ran the perimeter of the town, staying just behind the trees, and looking for a way in. Then I started to think rationally. An idea came to me._

_I pulled out my phone as I ran, pressing the send button twice, and waited to hear his voice._

"_Hey Bells, I'm already here."_

"_Ok, I'm on my way."_

_I ran to the Port Angeles airport, sneaking into the car rental building. "I need a car," I stated, slapping down a large wad of cash. "Something fast."_

_Ten minutes later I was rushing into the Forks hospital, up to the front desk. "I'm looking for Charlie Swan."_

"_Name and relation," the nurse demanded. It didn't take me long to recognize her. _

_But before I could stop the words, I had stated, "I'm his granddaughter."_

_Jessica's head snapped up from the computer screen, her eyes locking on mine. "Y-you're, Bella's daughter?!"_

"_Yea, can I see my grandpa?" I asked impatiently, crossing my arms over my chest._

"_Of course, right this way miss…?"_

"_Swan," I answered in a tight voice, following her down the hallway. It hadn't changed much in the thirty years I'd been away. She lead me to a room at the end of the hall, and I walked in to see my father, former chief of police, lying on his death bed at the age of sixty-eight; Jacob Black and Seth Clearwater occupying two of the three visitor chairs. They waved, and I returned the gesture. _

_When I realized that Jessica was still standing there, clearly not aware of how truly personal this ordeal was, I turned my vampire scariness on her. She, as expected, had been staring at me, and flinched under the intensity of my gaze._

"_Right. Well, um, let me know if you need, er, anything."_

_As the instant she was out the door I was at Charlie's side, holding his hand. He shivered slightly, his eyes fluttering. "Dad?!" I cried without thinking. _

"_Bella?" he asked, while Jacob smacked the back of my head. I sent him an 'oops' look before turning my attention back on my dying father. He surprised me by asking "Why does Heaven look like a hospital?"_

_Jacob and Seth each breathed out sighs of relief. But the next words out of my mouth were completely intentional. "Dad, you're not dead." _Yet_, I added silently._

"_Of course I am. How else could I be talking to you?"_

"_Er, well, it's kind of a long story." The wolves in the corner looked panicky. But what did I have to hide from Charlie now? He was dying. He deserved the truth before he went._

"_According to the doctors I'm not going anywhere," he responded encouragingly. If I'd still had human functions I would have been a blubbering, teary mess on the floor by now._

"_Well, back in 2006," Charlie's face crumpled in pain at the memory, as did mine. "I was out walking in the woods looking for a place that… I had known, in the woods." I edited out the parts involving second parties and waited for the momentary pain to subside back into the dull ache I was used to. "And I ran into an old acquaintance._

"_Ch-Dad, there's something you need to know about the," I paused, gulping down a deep breath of air before I could say they're name, "the Cullens. They were-are, vampires."_

_As I had been expecting, Charlie burst into laughter. It took a while for him to calm down, and the three of us waited patiently as he did. "You expect me to believe that vampires are real, and that a group of them had been living here?!"_

"_Yes. But don't worry, they drank animal blood, not human-" but he cut me off._

"_Ok, now I know I'm dead; or at least dreaming. But it's nice to see you either way. You look good, Bells."_

"_That's because the acquaintance I ran into was a different vampire. He wasn't like the," shudders, "Cullens. If it hadn't been for Jacob's impeccable timing I would've died." I sent a small smile to my best friend, who returned it._

"_Bella, I may be the one on the hospital bed, but I think it's clear which one of has lost it," Charlie stated sleepily. "And how could Jacob have saved you from a vampire, if that really happened?"_

"_He's," suddenly, I was hesitant. Charlie was never going to believe this. But it's better to have tried and failed, right? "He's a werewolf." This brought on another round of expected hysterics from my father._

"_It's true Charlie," Jacob informed, stepping forward into dad's line of vision. _

"_Jake, you died too?" he asked in disbelief. "You don't look any different than when I saw you at your father's funeral."_

"_I'm not dead, and neither is Bella. Seth Clearwater's here too, and he looks just the same." To help prove Jake's point, Seth also stepped forward, waving sadly at my dad._

"_Hey Charlie."_

_He now looked officially confused. "Dad, if you don't believe us, look into my eyes." He did, and his jaw went slack as he took in my golden eyes, no doubt making comparisons to the other vampires he'd met. "Do you believe me now?" _

_He only managed to nod his head very slowly. "Do you wanna hear how this all happened?" He repeated his previous action, and I delved into all the facts and details about vampires, and how I'd gotten mixed up in their crazy world._

_When I got up to the hard parts, after starting to go into a little too much detail, I had to excuse myself from the room. Jacob continued, having had a perfect memory of it from Sam's head._

_No one should have been staring at me. My estranged 'grand' father was dying. A girl had a right to be upset about it (as far as they were concerned). But no, the moment I stepped out of the door I felt all eyes on me. I met each pair with a glare, biting back a grin when I heard each individual heart skip ahead._

_Finally, I looked at my shoes, not having been completely distracted from my emotional pain. I decided to listen to the conversations around me, knowing what-or who-they'd be about. _

"_Yea, that's right, her _daughter_-No, I don't think that's why she left. Na ah, the kid can't be any older than eighteen. No you idiot, that would've made her thirty. Yes, I still remember how to count!" Jessica was trying to keep her voice low; and I'm sure it was… to everyone else. She glanced back up at me, and I met her gaze with suspicious, dangerous eyes. She didn't ogle for too long. "No, she's definitely his daughter." Pang, right to the unbeating heart. I felt my face wince, and I shut my eyes as the agony slowly crept away._

_Listening into my dad's room, I heard that the conversation was over. I snuck back in, three pairs of eyes on me almost immediately. I smiled sadly._

_We spent the night in the hospital, and at around three AM I got a phone call from home._

"_Hey," I answered, standing outside in the probably freezing rain. I paced back and forth at human speed, though there wasn't anyone watching me. Still, better safe than sorry._

"_Bella, is everything ok?"_

"_Um, not really."_

"_We'll be right there," Wendy assured, stilling the phone from Erin no doubt._

"_You don't have-" but they had already hung up. Sighing, I pressed the end button on my own phone, shoving it back into the pocket of my too-tight jeans and walking back to my father's side._

_One hour and two phone calls of planning later, Sara had entered the hospital, me meeting her in the lobby. I briefly explained to the nurse that had taken over, Lauren, that she was my sister. I saw the shock cross her face, no doubt surprised by the idea that my supposed father would have two kids with 'my mother'. I sneered in her direction, watching in satisfaction as a scowl replaced her surprise._

_Sara explained that it the others were at a hotel nearby. Seth snuck out to contact the rest of the pack, to keep them updated with Charlie's condition. He had fallen asleep at eleven, and nothing had changed. _

_That is, until five in the morning. His heart monitor took off like a speeding bullet, and the three of us were ushered out of the room by Jessica, who had returned to take the morning shift. Jacob ran off to tell Seth about this, and returned not thirty seconds later with the kid in tow._

_When the doctor came out to give us the bad news, I let myself fall into Jacobs uncomfortably warm arms, burying my face in his stinky, woodsy chest. And that's how we stood for a solid thirty seconds, Jacob rubbing my back while I sobbed silently and tearlessly into his red, blue, and tan flannel shirt. I'd convinced him to buy at least one outfit, saying that it gets uncomfortable for people to have to stare at a half-naked, immortal werewolf in human form. He also wore baggy khaki shorts and dark brown leather flip flops; an adorable leather necklace with two silver loop pendants around his neck and a leather, woven cuff on his right wrist. Not quite appropriate for November, but at least he's decent._

_Seth, his face solemn after the loss of his basically second-or third if you counted Billy from before-father, leaned against the wall of the building, playing with the hem of his blue and tan flannel shirt; the colors the only difference in the outfits._

_Sara hesitantly placed one arm over my shoulders, not quite accustomed to the proximity of the werewolf and the heat that came with him._

_The following week we stayed in Forks, planning Charlie's funeral. The wolves came in from Maine and helped to life my mood._

_After the appearance of Laurent, and then me, the pack had grown to a total of ten members, the largest known to ever exist. Quil Ateara had been thrilled to finally be let in on the secret, and wasn't the least put out by the idea of turning into a giant, hairy monster. Seth had also felt similar, though his glee was more from the fact of being included with a group of older boys. That is, until Colin and Brady showed up, neither of them older than thirteen. Still, he was happy to be around. The same could not be said for Seth's sister Leah. She was repulsed by herself, her hatred for vampires the only thing strong enough to overcome that. Needless to say, she wasn't happy with my friendship with a few of the pack members._

_But after a time, Sam Uley decided to quit so he could grow old with his new wife, Emily, leaving Jacob in charge of the entire pack. Though, Paul and Jared quit not too long after Sam. Despite Jacob's reassurances, I was pretty certain it was in part my fault for them leaving. He said it was purely for the same reasons as Sam._

_Leah quit too, the minute she was in control of her temper. And, once Claire, the little girl Quil had imprinted on, grew to be seventeen, he too, left. The strong pack of ten had dwindled back down to five._

_But these five liked, or at least tolerated, me enough to come to my father's funeral that Friday, along with basically the entire town. I told them the story that my new family and I made up over the course of the week. Bella, my 'mother', somehow managed to get the truck off the cliff and then left to Canada where she started a new life. _

_Sara told the next part because I couldn't, even after thirty years, manage to say the name allowed. So Bella ran into our father in her new town and they worked things out. Then our father died shortly after Sara was born, and our mother died a few years later. We were adopted by the Johnsons, and had been living with them for the past ten years. We never knew our father's last name, so we just kept our mom's. And then I managed to track down our grandpa, where we heard that he was dying in the hospital. I suck out, and Sara and the others followed._

_Oh, and Jacob was my boyfriend, and Seth was his little brother. They helped sneak me to Forks._

_Jacob and I made plans to go sky diving on Sunday evening, so I stayed in town with him at a motel. Seth ran back to Maine, and Jacob and I spent Saturday night and Sunday watching lame comedy movies; with me hunting Saturday night while he slept._

Somewhere during my recollection Jacob had shouted at me to pull the string for my parachute. I was just now reacting, but immediately unclipped the backpack, easily sliding it off of my shoulders. This was gonna be the best prank yet.

"NO!" Jacob shouted. I laughed to myself, while old Bella, who had been buried in the far corners of my mind, internally scolded me for hurting Jacob like this. 'Well, it's about time he learns how not helpless I am!' I argued back. Old, nice Bella was really getting on my nerves.

I hit the ground, purposefully aiming myself at a rock so as not to plow a mile-deep hole in the moist dirt of Oregon, which is the state we'd decided to land in.

The moment my body impacted with the earth I locked my limbs in position, waiting for Jacob to land and find me.

It took him at least ten minutes, and I had started to get impatient. I took the time to wallow in disappointment. I had no idea what to expect, but skydiving had by far been my most dangerous act yet, and still I hadn't heard his voice. I hadn't heard it since I'd become a vampire, and it didn't take long for me to get pissed off. I guess I was no longer in danger, now that I was indestructible.

Then I heard it; his soft footsteps against the ground thudding towards me. "Bella!" he shouted as he reached me. That was another thing getting on my nerves; his shouting. "Bella, say something!" he cried.

Finally, I let the smile break out across my face, a load, uproar escaping my throat. "Gotcha!"

The scowl on my friend's face was priceless. It fueled my laughter, and old Bella's anger. I laughed harder. "That was mean!"

"That was terrible! I thought you were dead!" He stormed away, but I was quick to follow.

"Aww, Jacob, I'm sorry. But you seem to be forgetting that I'm a _vampire_! We can't die!" He cringed at the plural. Yep, he'd definitely forgotten. Not that this was the first time it happened.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just… easier, I guess, to forget what we are when I'm with you."

"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean. Anyway, my house is just around the corner," I noticed, stating the fact out loud. Ok, so it was a long corner, but we were close enough. "And you probably have to get back to your pack."

"Yeah," he agreed reluctantly. "I'll see ya Bells." We shared a brief smile before he took off, no doubt to strip and change. I ran off in the opposite direction.

The next day started like all the other, mostly because days never really ended for us. But that didn't mean I didn't try.

Every night I would lay in my bed in a pair of really old, comfy sweats, my eyes squeezed shut, and let my mind wander. It was nice to take a break from thinking and just drift. But that was the closest I ever got to sleep. Drifting. At six in the morning I would get up, comb through my now side parted, straight hair-flat and curling irons miraculously worked for us-and change into school clothes.

I never shopped for myself. I simply followed as the girls, Wendy, Erin, and Sara that is, went shopping. They would toss articles of clothing into a dressing room, one outfit at a time, and I would step out and show them. Of course everything looked good on us, but they bought me the outfits they claimed looked the best. I really couldn't tell the difference. I guess they meant they were buying the ones that made the most people ogle.

Today I wore something simple, yet still eye-catching. There were two simple tank tops, a solid white over a solid black, black straight leg jeans (since I refused anything skinnier than that), and my pair of white leather converse with black laces. Yes, I could actually dress myself decently. Whodathunkit?

I went downstairs to meet my family, smiling brightly at their concerned faces. One of the thoughts my mind had drifted to the previous night had been Charlie, of course. I had decided that he was in a much better place, away from vampires and werewolves and all that junk. And he was watching down on me, smiling at how hard I was trying to stay good. Well, mostly. My attitude probably wasn't the best, but whatever. It kept the pain away.

They each breathed out sighs of relief, and we followed Erin to our car. She was, as far as our story went, the only one of us eligible to drive. She had been changed at the age of twenty, as was apparent on her face, so she was the only sophomore. I had my permit, since I'd kept my original human birthday of September 13, but that was it. Poor Sara had to start out in middle school since she could pull it off, and she had to play my little sister.

The car, though I didn't know the make and model, was beautiful. It was silver and had butterfly-wing doors. I took my place in the passenger seat, monkeying with the radio as we took off. Unfortunately the morning traffic prevented us from driving at a comfortable speed, for us, so we were stuck going sixty. Our mood brightened when Shut Up and Drive came on.

We all sang along, even shy, innocent Erin, and cranked the radio to almost as loud as it would go. This was what we did every morning, and by the time we pulled into school everyone else had their car radios tuned to the same station. The mornings were like parties at Astoria High.

But this particular morning, as we pulled into the student parking lot, I saw a sight that I had never pictured in my wildest day-nightmares.

"Oh shit!" I cried out, ducking as low as I could in my seat while Rihanna's song ended with a car crash. How ironic.

**So this is officially my longest chapter! And I know, poor Charlie! But I wanted him to be able to know the truth, and the only way that was possible was if he was dying. Please don't hurt me! Unless it's in review form! PLEASE! I know you're all dying to know what happens next! PLEASE!!!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(: **


	5. Decisions

**Alright, so updates won't be as frequent; at least not for the next week or so. I was on spring break last week, and had nothing to do except write. But now I'm back at school, and I'm taking driver's ed. So I don't get home until six. This chapter wouldn't have even made it out until the weekend if it wasn't for testing at my school allowing me to be late Wednesday morning!**

**But I wanna say how grateful I am to everyone that reviewed last chapter! I was ecstatic! Please, keep them coming!**

**Oh, and now I'll have to start labeling POVs, since they'll be switching around a lot. And they won't necessarily be limited to Edward and Bella! :D**

_Edward-_

One week. That's how long we'd been attending Astoria High School. And it actually wasn't that bad. A lot of the kids were surprisingly intelligent. Not that the kids at our last school hadn't been. If they hadn't, I'd still be a senior at said last school, instead of a freshman at this one.

Gabe, though energetic and highly annoying, was a nice enough kid. And as far as science partners went, he made my top two. No one would ever be able to compare to my number one, though.

He also had some pretty decent friends. We didn't really talk, but to have their minds at my proximity was much more tolerable than some of the other airheads wandering around. It was… refreshing.

After that first day Alice had decided to let me dress myself. Not that I ever really swayed too much farther from black, other than the occasional gray. But today she decided to change that.

I opened my closet only to find one shirt, one pair of jeans, and one pair of sneakers. "Alice!" I shouted unnecessarily.

"You hollered?" she inquired from my doorway the very millisecond that her name had left my lips.

"Where are my clothes?" I poked through her mind, hoping she'd give it up. But over the past three decades, granted one of which I hadn't been around, she had become a master at blocking me out. She was translating a book she had just got done reading into Ancient Greek, and it was very irritating.

"Somewhere. I'm sick of you dressing like a bum!" she explained. She left, giving me my space to change.

It wasn't like I was opposed to wearing the clothes. I just preferred to have the option of what I wear. With a sigh, I pulled on the too tight, long sleeve smoke colored Henley and white jeans of the same fit. I looked at the sneakers, and was pleased to find a decent pair of converse sneakers. They were all black, save for thin white pinstripes and the stripe on the bottom.

Well, I decided, she could have done worse. And literally two thirds of a second aster I thought that, Alice was attacking me from behind.

"Alice, what the hell are you doing?!" I shouted, trying with no avail to pull my annoyingly tiny sister off of my back. One of her arms wrapped around my throat, the other's hand raking something through my knotted hair. A comb.

"I'm making you look decent!" she replied equally as loud as me; if not louder. "Just! Hold! Still!" she ordered, grunting with the effort it took to comb through my bird's nest while still clinging desperately to my back.

"Get off of me!"

I heard Emmett's chuckle from the hallway, followed shortly by his thoughts. '_Hm, guess Alice is letting her anger out. Finally_!'

"My money's on Alice," he announced, entering my room and plopping down on the large, eloquent bed. His hands folded comfortably behind his head as he watched in amusement at the scene that unfolded before him. I could see the humor dripping in his thoughts as I watched, through his eyes, what Alice was doing to me.

"Alice," I began after she had finished with whatever attractively scented product she had scrubbed through my newly combed hair. "Why does it matter to you how I look?"

Again, she was focused on an unimportant topic, thinking really hard as she edited her sentence so as not to reveal anything she felt the need to hide from me. "Well, you're my brother. And people have been looking at you strange. You are the most gorgeous, single man at the school, and you dress worse than a hobo. And that, in turn, reflects on to me."

She was definitely hiding something. I had thought she had just been hiding her thoughts and visions to annoy me, but now at her pathetic excuse of an explanation, I realized there was most certainly something hidden within the cryptic web that was her mind. I just couldn't fathom what.

But I let the subject drop for the moment, following my two siblings downstairs, where we proceeded with our new morning routine. Shouting our goodbyes from the doorway, walking over to Emmett's massive truck, and getting in. As the 'girlfriend' (wife), Rosalie got shotgun, and Alice refused to sit by me in the car. So Jasper was stuck in the middle, while I stared absently out the window in the seat behind Emmett's.

We arrived at school, just like any other day, parking in a spot near the exit for a quick getaway after school. Then, because no matter how late we left we were always some of the first students there, we hung out in the giant bed of the monstrous vehicle. I usually listened to my iPod, but today I could feel so much unknown excitement rolling off of Jasper, and quickly found the source to be his wife. Her face was also an obvious giveaway.

Jasper sent her a questioning look, and she merely shrugged. But her behavior was so different compared to that of the other days. Each day of the previous week we had showed up to school, and each day she would look increasingly disappointed. As if something she had been expecting to happen did not.

Even Emmett and Rosalie took notice.

_Looks like she's about to bounce thirty feet in the air._

_What's her deal?_

And then, just as it seemed like Emmett's prediction was about to come true, everything went blank. My mind was, for once, filled with nothing other than my own thoughts. I immediately crumpled to the floor of the truck, my hands gripping my temples in obvious anxiety. I could hear my siblings'-three of them, anyway- murmurs of confusion and worry. But that's all I heard.

I glanced up and noticed Alice staring intently off into the abyss.

_Alice-_

So many decisions passed through my mind almost instantaneously; it was nearly impossible to keep track of them all.

The very first was the decision to guard everyone from Edward. That I was very pleased with. There were only so many thoughts a girl could think over the course of twenty years before she slipped up.

I finally allowed my mind to wander freely through the visions it received.

Bella hid out in her car until every single student had cleared the parking lot. Then, very quickly, she ran back to her house. She took a long, warm shower-a part I skipped over for privacy-and then hid out in her bed until the other members of her coven returned home. She explained to them how she would be leaving for the duration of their stay in Astoria. Agony gripped me, as my sister for all intensive purposes, the girl I had just gotten back into my life, was already decided to leave without even a hello. Or goodbye.

I saw Erin, the oldest of Bella's new siblings, dial a number on her phone later that night. "Someone remember the number 971-455-3581," I demanded aloud, still trying to focus on the vision. I thought I heard a mumbled "I have enough room in my head to remember it," but I was too focused on a different present day conversation taking place three cars away from us.

"Bella, if you leave because of his death, I'd have to go too. It would be weird if one of us stayed while the other went." This was the girl I knew to be Sara from many of the other visions I had explored during Edward's multitude of absences. She had claimed to be Bella's biological little sister, and I agreed with her logic.

"Yeah, and if Sara leaves then so do I." This assertive statement came from the only male of their siblings, Devin. He and Sara had a very tight bond.

"And that would entail the rest of us leaving, since the story is that he is biologically related to me, Erin, and Simon," the male's twin since human birth, Wendy, added pointedly. I heard Bella's musical sigh, and my vision shifted.

I saw Bella huddled in her desk for first hour, trying to catch her bearings before she ran in to any of us. It was nice to know that she trusted me to keep her from them. And terrifying to think that maybe she'd just forgotten completely.

She still wasn't prepared for a confrontation with us when Edward, accompanied by his lab partner Gabe, entered the class, his bright gold eyes widening with the realization at who was in the class. Though I knew this decision would get me in much more trouble with him-he'd already decided to ask me tonight about what I was trying so hard to hide from him-it was still a much more desirable outcome compared to the first.

But it changed again, to her confronting the both of us, Edward and I, in the hallway at some point during the day. That one didn't last too long. Then I got a glimpse of the final outcome, the official decision, right before it was put in to play. I laughed out loud when I saw it.

_Bella-_

"What are they doing?" I murmured, low enough so that none of the Cullens could hear. It had taken me a solid five minutes, though it felt like hours, to control the raw, gaping hole in my chest. Then I was able to think straight.

The first thing I thought about was keeping my presence a secret from the Cullens. And there was only one way I knew how to do that, provided Alice stays quiet. I threw up my shield-a talent we had discovered shortly after my staying with Sara, Devin, and Wendy, and had been working ever since to expand, and I had become a pro at it-covering every living creature in the city. In the same second, I located Edward's flavor, a taste I won't even begin to describe, in my shield and withdrew it from his mind. The following gasp did not go unnoticed by me.

My next thought was how to act on this recent development. I decided to leave. How could I manage to stay, when I every time I saw their faces or heard their names there was a possibility to collapse into a dry-sobbing, writhing mess on the floor?! No, that most definitely wouldn't work.

When I voiced my decision out loud, however, my family had different plans.

"Bella, if you leave because of his death, I'd have to go too. It would be weird if one of us stayed while the other went," Sara stated, after I told them it wouldn't be suspicious if we said I moved back to my hometown to learn more about my biological family.

"Yeah, and if Sara leaves then so do I," Devin stated assertively, wrapping his arm protectively around his girlfriend. No, they hadn't gotten married yet. They claimed it would spoil the fun. Plus, it's not like she could ever wear the ring.

"And that would entail the rest of us leaving, since the story is that he is biologically related to me, Erin, and Simon," Wendy reminded.

"So you're not going anywhere without us, and that would be suspicious," Erin stated matter-of-factly. Then she added, as an afterthought, "Plus, someone is bound to think of you at some point. It's better that you're here to shield it until you figure things out."

I nodded in agreement. Leaving was most definitely out of the picture. Not to mention the headache I was receiving from old Bella in the back of my head from even considering leaving now.

I then thought about going to class straight away, to pull myself together enough to be able to handle any meeting with them. Because if I was staying, that was bound to happen.

But sitting in my class for the half hour left until it actually started wasn't a flavorful idea. I threw that one out.

What if I confronted them in the hallway? Catching them off guard would certainly give me the upper hand. And then I realized that there was not catching Alice off guard.

So here we are, a minute after I had made my decision of waiting in the car. We would sneak out while they were distracted, with me trying to decide between going to the cafeteria or class, and make a very fast walk for it. We couldn't run without being noticed. Or at least suspected, since no one besides them would be able to see us.

"Well, the blonde male and the red headed male look like they're in equal amounts of pain," Wendy answered my question. I snorted very immaturely. Edward couldn't handle not knowing what people were thinking, and poor Jasper was absorbing all his misery from it. "The big guy looks concerned, and also focused, and the blonde girl looks pissed off," she continued muttering. "And the tiny girl with spiky hair looks distant."

"Ok, go, go, go!" I hurried all of us out the door, making sure to shut them as quietly behind us as we could. They couldn't be distracted for very long. Devin and Erin, both being taller than me, if only by a few inches, came briskly to my left, the side that the Cullens could see, to hide me from their view. Wendy and Sara, both shorter than me, took my right side. I stared at my feet, letting my hair fall in front of my face.

"Guys, look over there." _Damn it Alice_! I cursed silently in my head. I could literally hear the smirk in her words, and we all felt when four extra pairs of eyes landed on us.

But we made it across the lot, having gained speed after being spotted, and now Devin was walking with Sara to the middle school. She grumbled the entire way there.

Wendy and Erin each placed comforting arms around my shoulders as we headed towards the doors to the building.

_Five vampire steps_, I counted in my head, _four vampire steps, three vamp- uh oh!_

"Hey Wendy!" Gabe, a very energetic, and relatively nice, human greeted. "Oh, uh Bella, Erin," he added at our annoyed looks, clearly missing Wendy's and thinking we were upset at a lack of welcome. Oh contraire. Normally it was cute when he did this. But today we were in a hurry.

"Hi, Gabe," we all muttered separately and hurriedly.

"So where were you guys?! We missed you all last week! And you guys didn't get to meet the new kids yet!" _Don't look, don't look, don't look!_ I ordered myself as old Bella threatened to take control of my eyes, and the rest of my head and body. _Phew!_

"Oh, well, you see, we were up in Seattle because Sara and Bella's biological grandpa just passed away, and they were his only living family." Wendy continued to delve into a story of how he had been in a nursing home for the last ten years while I rocked back and forth from my heels to my toes. "So we were just on our way to bring Bella to class."

"Oh we'll walk her!" _We?_ "Hey Edward!" _Oh dear_, old Bella thought sarcastically, and a bit smugly, in my head. But I had no time for her. I was too busy destroying my life.

"NO!" I shouted, my head flying up and instinctively, though I'm sure it was just old Bella conspiring against me, turned in the direction of the monstrosity of a truck I had seen them in when we arrived. Of course I was met with the one topaz gaze that had been haunting my existence for a solid thirty one years (though that first year I hadn't really minded, since the rest of him was there to haunt me also). My hand, in that same instant, flew to cover my mouth, though it was too late. The damage had been done, and I was forced to suffer the attention it brought upon me.

"Oops," Wendy muttered while Erin stifled her laughter.

I felt like I should have been blushing. I felt like my heart should have taken off like a rocket. But most of all, I felt like I should have been stumbling my way through the school instead of running with immense grace and speed. I barely managed to keep it human.

_Edward-_

So many thoughts passed through my brain at once, and I was almost grateful for the mysterious silence of everyone else's. Almost.

Bella Swan, a vampire, at _my_ new high school?! What the hell?! I wanted so desperately to take off after her, to figure out the reason why she was a vampire, and to learn everything that had happened to her in the last thirty years. But I couldn't even move. Half of my brain was frozen with shock, in turn freezing my body into a statue, while the other half was still poking around, trying to find anyone else's thoughts to distract me.

After a moment or two my brain began to slowly warm back up, and a realization hit me. There was more than likely another way for me to find out everything about what had happened to Bella. How this all came about. I turned my stone-cold gaze on my tiny, psychic sister.

"Alice," I began icily, "was there something you've been meaning to tell me?"

"Um, not here. It's a _really_ long story," she answered guiltily. I growled, and she smiled widely. So her power was still intact, if she saw what I wanted her to tell me. Neither her nor Jasper seemed troubled. So it was just me.

"Edward," Emmett asked, "can you hear my thoughts again? I'm tired of shouting in my head!"

"No, I can't. But you can stop. I guess I'll just have to keep trying." I got up and walked over to Gabe, who was still standing stunned by the two other female vampires that had been accompanying Bella.

"Uh, hey," I greeted uncertainly. The two blondes were glaring daggers at me. So they knew the story.

"What was that about?" Gabe asked, glancing between the school doors and me. I just shrugged, turning to these mystery strangers.

"Bella's a freak," the shorter one answered with a shrug. Her's was the more dangerous looking glower.

The taller, and older looking, one nudged the other in the ribs. "She's just a little… frazzled by everything lately. Her grandfather, _Charlie_," she emphasized the name for my sake, "died last week, and she's upset that she never got to know him."

I stood there, like an idiot, running my hand through my hardened hair, messing up Alice's hard work, and her weird behaavior from the earlier clicked. She knew a lot more than she should have. She shouldn't have known anything. I had deliberately asked her not to look for Bella! I shouldn't have been surprised. Alice rarely listened to me.

"I'm Erin Johnson, by the way." The older of the two held out her hand, a bit nervously, and I shook it.

"Edward Cullen," I responded, though I guessed by the way that the younger one rolled her eyes that they knew exactly who I was.

Erin, again, nudged the younger one in the ribs. The motion was quick, and Gabe was, for the moment, distracted by a few of his friends who had come over to ask about Spanish homework.

"I'm her little sister Wendy," the shorter and younger one finally stated. She, however, did not offer to shake my hand, but instead turned toward the school and stomped off. Erin followed after a moment, neither of them glancing back.

_Bella-_

"Nice going," Devin whispered after I had finished explaining what he and Sara had missed in the parking lot. I scowled at him, and he only chuckled. After a moment I let a small smile break out on my face.

"I'm so confused!" My voice was still low, so that none of the surrounding humans would be able to hear our conversation. "I mean, it's only a matter of time before one of them-" but my sentence was cut midsentence by two boys entering the class. Or rather, one boy, and one vampire. _One tall, gorgeous- shut up!_ "Oh no!"

And only I knew of the double innuendo hidden within that exclamation. Devin would merely think of it to mean that I was upset that Edward Cullen was clearly in our first hour science class. But he would, by no means be able to understand why else that vampire would worry me. And that was a very good thing. Because if Devin could see how unimaginably delicious Edward looked, then he and Sara would need to sit down and have a serious talk.

But back to my current problem; Edward's T-Shirt. It was, same as all the Cullens' clothes, expensive. But that wasn't what impressed me. It was also way too tight; almost painfully tight. I was fairly certain that if a human boy, like Gabe for example, tried to wear that he would suffocate to death. But, Edward was a vampire, and not only did he not rely on oxygen to keep him going, but he also had a body sculpted by Michaelangelo himself. Edward, though like I said it was unnecessary, continued to take deep, intoxicating breaths. And with each breath he took I feared that his shirt would rip wide open. Feared and hoped. Shudder.

And then there was his hair. His beautifully messy head of bronze hair. It looked worse than it had in the parking lot, but that also made it look so much better. My hands were aching to run through it, but I held them back.

His eyes, which my memory most certainly had not done justice, were as gold as ever, and it didn't take long for them to find me. My jaw locked hard and I ignored the pain coursing through my body. I would not let him affect me. I was here first damn it!

Remembering everything about him that had drawn me in so long ago, I cut of my flow of air. His scent would most definitely not be getting in this nose.

_Please don't let him sit near me!_ I prayed silently in my head. If there was ever a time for luck to take my side, it was now.

And of course, she didn't. I decided that lady luck was either A) a jealous girl that only existed for my suffering and wanted Edward all to herself, or B) a dude that lived by the Bros before Hoes rule. But, if lady luck _was_ a dude that followed that male law, than he/she would put Edward on the other side of the room. Because as much as I didn't want him by me, his feelings on the matter could only be worse.

And so of course I look up after my silent prayer to see his piercing gold eyes boring into mine from the seat diagonally in front of mine. Gabe was paying us zero attention, for once following the lesson that had staretd who knew how long ago. I glared back at Edward, and was declared the winner of our stare-down after a few short seconds, when he flinched-I had tightened my gaze, narrowing in on him and all his outer perfection-and turned away; pretending to pay attention no doubt.

I focused on my shield for the remainder of the class. I had never held it this long and for this many people, and I was beginning to feel it wearing on me. I barely had time to focus on avoiding Edward's attempt to pull me aside at the end of class and dart out the door.

I practically ran to my study hall, hiding in a desk in the corner. I focused on my shield, and all its weakening power. I barely noticed when Erin entered and took her seat next to mine. "Hey, how you feeling?" she asked.

"Trying to focus. Hang on." And then it happened. My shield snapped back at my head like a rubber band, and I was overcome with a headache. Old Bella chastised me for doing that to Edward. My head throbbed harder.

After taking a sixth of a second to allow the pain to subside, I panicked. I didn't need any of them, save for Alice whom I was sure was already aware, knowing about any of my family's talents. So, with all of my might, I forced the shield around Erin, who was next to me and fairly easy to reach. Then, having memorized their schedules and classrooms, I extended it out to the rest of my family. Sara was the hardest to reach, but I found her mind's familiar flavor and pulled the shield tight around her. This I was sure I could manage all day.

**So, kind of a weird place to stop, but I had nowhere else to. Please review! They make me smile, and motivated!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	6. Glare

**OMG, I got ELEVEN reviews last chapter! Thanx to everyone who reviewed! They seriously made my day, and made drivers ed bearable! I love you all, and please keep them coming!**

**Oh, and I changed Toby's name to Gabe, because I had to read the Giver in English, and decided that Gabe was a much cooler name. No offense to any Tobys out there who might be reading this! It's a close second. **

_Bella-_

"Oh my God!" Sara shouted as she skipped her way across the parking lot after school. Devin had literally just begun to make his way towards the middle school, which was connected to our school, when she jumped at him. Now she nearly dragged our poor brother along behind her in her haste to reach us. If there wasn't a huge crowd of our peers surrounding us I was certain she'd have sprinted, vampire style, to meet us. _Stupid humans and their sluggishness! I want to get home NOW!_

The highlight of my day had been, well, nonexistent. The events only went downhill, never turning around to please me. Basically, it was the second worst day of my existence.

The rest of second hour had been spent focusing on my shield, making sure it was going to hold up for the rest of the day. It had, thankfully.

Third hour was almost unbearable. Wendy was in my gym class that hour, and it used to be fun, beating all of our classmates, especially the jocks, at every sport. Even if the teacher assigned us partner, Wendy and I would have been paired together. But today I noticed that we were no longer the only set of vampire sisters in our class. And, even as Alice stared at me with apology nearly dripping out of her eyes, Rosalie had glared ice cold daggers at me the entire class period. And the ironic part was that, of all the Cullens, I felt the least betrayed by her. Huh.

Fourth hour was by far the worst, Algebra. I no longer struggle with math, and in fact, only two weeks earlier it had been one of my favorites. I felt superior to everyone else, always getting perfects on tests and homework. But all that changed with the arrival of just two new students. Edward and Alice Cullen. Sigh.

Alice smiled sadly at me, same as earlier, and I glared back. Aside from Edward, I felt the most betrayal by this pixie-ish Cullen. I saw her meet Edward's gaze and her own eyes squinted into a scowl. I almost snorted with laughter.

Fifth hour I almost craved the aloneness that I had once felt in the class, though it had never been my favorite class because of that. Solitude meant either paying attention or painful memories. But now that I realized I had back to back classes with the two most hurtful vampires, I craved being alone and focusing above anything else. I would even have been willing to focus on Pride and Prejudice if they would just disappear!

"So," Mr. Rogers addressed the class. Oh great, class discussion time. "Why do you think Mr. Darcy left?" Could that question have been any vaguer? Even the one I just asked made you think more than his. But before I could stop myself, my hand was raised above my head and the teacher had answered, "Yes Ms. Swan?" I glared up at my hand for the briefest second before answering his question.

And I knew that this answer would be wrong, and it would confuse everyone. But old Bella couldn't stop me now. "Because he didn't want her anymore. He was sick of pretending to be something he wasn't, and wanted to find distractions."

Twenty sets of human eyes, and one pair of gold, turned to look at me with confused and amused expressions. Edward turned away, flinching at the harsh tone in my voice. And I knew my humiliation was worth it.

"Um, not quite. Any other ideas?" The teacher went around picking other hands.

Of course they were in my lunch, but I didn't stick around after that to walk with them. Odds are they both already knew where it was anyway. I went to meet Wendy and Devin, and the three of us walked to lunch together, same as always. I told them of my awful morning while we waited in line for the food we would pretend to eat.

Wendy burst out in hysterical laughter, earning strange glances from the people around us, while Devin chuckled quietly by her side. Despite my better judgment, I let my eyes scan the masses for the two that I knew would already be here. I nearly screamed when I saw where they were.

"They're at our table!" I barely managed to keep this proclamation at a vampire whisper. Wendy and Devin followed the path my eyes had just taken. Theirs went wide with shock, same as mine probably had, and then turned back to me.

"What should we do?" Devin asked, looking scary as he glared daggers over at our table. I hid from Edward's gaze behind my hair.

"We have to sit there. If we don't it would look suspicious, and make us look like cowards," Wendy stated matter-of-factly. I sighed, knowing she was right. Devin reluctantly turned away from his glaring contest with Edward. I tested my shield's strength while the lunch lady plopped a scoop of goo on our trays. Even as far as human food went, that stuff was gross looking and smelling.

The three of us, a force to be reckoned with, walked over to our lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria, and sat down in formation. It must have looked very strange. I was, of course, in the middle.

"Oh, hey guys," another of our human friends, Anna, greeted. She looked hyper, which was definitely not a good thing. "Have you met the new kids?!" she asked eagerly, looking at Edward and Alice. "That's Alice, and Edward. They just moved here from London, isn't that amazing?!" she continued, ogling them same as everyone else.

"Incredible," I murmured into my food. I refused to look up and meet his penetrating gaze.

Gabe moved behind Wendy, who subtly moved forward for him, and asked, "Bella, are you ok? You're oddly quiet." That was one of the interesting things about Gabe. For a human, he was very perceptible. "Does this have anything to do with the incident in the parking lot?" And he had a refreshingly sophisticated vocabulary.

But his question struck an idea in me. And this one made a lot more sense than the one from English. After all, there had to have been at least two dozen kids that saw me run from him in the parking lot. And I knew that our friend, Natalie, was listening. She was like the really nice version of Jessica; couldn't help but gossip. Good, this would spread fast.

I heard Alice gasp right before I spoke. Too late. "Well, um, we sorta knew them from when we were kids," I explained, gesturing slightly to the Cullens with my head. I was talking softly enough so that the humans at our table would think they couldn't hear us.

"Really? What happened?" Anna pressed. Even Amy, the shy, quiet girl who always minded her own business was leaning in, trying to hear the story. I almost smirked.

"They just left. No explanation, nothing. They barely even said goodbye." That was, after all, partly the truth. I saw, from my peripheral vision, Alice slap Edward on the shoulder and mouth the word idiot. It was nearly my undoing.

"No way, how close were you?!" Gabe asked, genuine concern in his voice. I did, however, detect the slightest bit of jealousy in his tone. He glanced briefly at Wendy.

"Well, they were mostly my friends. We were extremely close."

"Wait. Were you guys like, in the same orphanage?"

_Hmm, interesting idea Natalie._ "Uh, yeah." I made my voice sound upset as I pretended to think about my imaginary orphanage, where Sara and I had stayed after our parents' deaths until Simon came and adopted us.

"Wow." Gabe glanced unsurely over at Alice and Edward. I followed his eyes and finally let a hint of the smirk I'd been dying to reveal show on my face. They were staring at me in open shock. I win.

"They should make a movie about your life!" Anna exclaimed, rather loudly compared to the earlier whispers of our conversation. The three of us, Devin, Wendy, and I, let out brief chuckles, for different reasons than everyone else. It would, after all, be a very interesting film.

Sixth hour social studies was fine, I was alone and focusing on the class, same as before. But something strange happened in my seventh period Spanish class. Emmett and Jasper were there.

I was pretty awkward, especially with Jasper, and I stared at my notebook or the teacher the entire time. The seconds seemed to slow, and then stop altogether, on the clock until I felt about ready to burst from anxiety.

And then we were dismissed. Just like that. I leapt out of my seat and over to the door, passing every other student in the class in my haste to leave. That wasn't too suspicious. Who wasn't in a hurry to leave school? Especially on a Monday. Still, I had managed to beat my other siblings to the car.

I looked up as Sara and Devin arrived surprised at how quick my reminiscence of the day was. "Guys, you'll never believe what happened!"

"Can you tell us in the car?!" I asked, already halfway in the passenger's seat. She glowered at me.

"Fine," she conceded with a huff. The rest of them piled into the car, staring uncertainly at me. I ignored them all, instead switching on the radio. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Taylor Swift's voice belting out lyrics to one of my favorite songs. I turned the volume up as Erin pulled out of the driveway.

_Was I out of line_

_Did I say something way to honest_

_Made you run and hide_

_Like a scared little boy_

_I looked into your eyes_

_Thought I knew you for a minute _

_Now I'm not so sure_

We were going extra slow due to a traffic jam, and ended up being stuck a few cars down from the giant gray and red truck. Up went the volume, just a little bit more.

So here's to everything

Coming down to nothing

Here's to silence

I let out a sharp bark of laughter, and, in response to their questioning glances, said to my siblings in the lowest possible tone, "I've been blocking us from his mind all day!"

They all laughed, Erin pulling ahead a few feet. The song continued on as we drove away.

"I got offered to move ahead to ninth grade!" Sara shouted as soon as we were on the road.

"Congratulations!" Devin pulled her into a hug from one side, and Wendy from the other. Erin and I conveyed our excitement from the front seat.

"And it works because everyone will still think I'm fourteen!" We laughed at how excited she was, pulling into the driveway. I headed up to my bedroom to take a long hot shower. I needed to de-stress.

_Edward-_

"Ok Alice, what the hell is all of this?!" I had asked her this the second we had pulled onto the freeway, but she refused to tell us until Carlisle and Esme got home. Irritated, I hopped out of the truck when we pulled into the driveway, nearly taking the door off in the process. I took off for a run in the forest. She gave me a time that Carlisle, who was working later than Esme, would be home, and I jogged into the driveway the same time he pulled in with his car.

"Edward, what's going on?" he asked politely, easily matching my pace as we strode into the house together. He could tell I was on edge about something. I just shook my head, rubbing my temples with one hand. The whole ordeal was messed up.

We walked in, and I moved over to a corner of the couch, spreading my feet out just as Rosalie was about to sit down. She glared down at me.

"Move your feet," she demanded, not raising her voice but clearly pissed off. She had been for almost the entire day.

I smirked. "Sit somewhere else."

With a huff, she crossed her arms and plopped down right on top of my legs. I yanked them back with a hiss.

Carlisle, Esme, and Alice took the three seats across from the couch, Emmett sat next to Rosalie, and Jasper took the other corner of the couch.

"Ok Alice, why don't you tell us your news?" Esme suggested, turning to look at her smaller daughter.

"Yeah, before she explodes," Emmett teased. But this was true. The second we were out of Bella's line of sight Alice went from depressed to bouncy pixie all over again. She hadn't stopped fidgeting since.

"Bella's here!" she shouted, and I felt that twist of remorse in my stomach. Esme and Carlisle had equal looks of shock plastered across their faces, though Esme's seemed a bit more excited.

"Here, as in here in Astoria?" Carlisle asked, though he really didn't need to. Where else would here be? He was just looking for confirmation of what Alice said.

"Yup, at our school and everything," Emmett added.

"She's a teacher?" inquired Esme, puzzled.

"No, a student!" I could tell from Emmett's mind that he was enjoying all of the confusion he was causing.

"Alright, could someone please elaborate?" Carlisle looked to Alice, but it was Rosalie who offered up the truth.

"Bella went out and found a group of vampires to change her and is now living with them here in Oregon." _Stupid Edward_, she continued in her mind. _I can't believe he didn't see this one coming! She was so bent on destroying her life that it wouldn't matter if we'd left or not! Idiot!_

"That's not what happened," I growled at her, my lips pulling back over my teeth in a snarl.

"Oh yeah?!" she challenged, ready to pounce. She was already planning her first attack in her head. I myself was working on a counter attack. I could tell from Alice's new vision that it would work.

"No!" she shouted so loud that it gathered everyone's attention. We turned to look at her, not relaxing our poses. "That isn't what happened, Rose." And she hastily went through her old vision for me to watch before she continued.

Bella trudging through the forest, one hundred percent human, seemingly lost. But only a short minute later she stumbled into the meadow; _our_ meadow. Alice had also connected the dots in her brain, recognizing it from a very old vision of the day I decided to show the place to Bella.

Then, for some strange reason, Bella crumpled to the ground in tears. I sat up on the edge of the couch, and Alice had to remind me that this was only a memory and there was nothing I could. She also informed me that Bella did this a lot, even as a vampire. Only, no tears came out during those times.

She skipped ahead to a moment when Bella was just lying there, all red and puffy eyed, and for some reason I felt a twinge of guilt. Then, Bella sat up, and slowly got to her feet. That's when I noticed that she wasn't alone. I had been so focused on her that I had failed to see Laurent enter the meadow.

He and Bella talked, and she was making all the right moves, the ones I would have told her to make. But after a moment or two, she gave up. He was inches away from her when she closed her eyes and froze; just gave up.

I ignored the venom that pooled in my mouth at the sight of her neck being bitten into, and jumped up shouting, "NO!" The vision had gone black.

"That's exactly what I said," Alice informed me.

Oh, I remember that day. Emmett began to replay a day, about five months after they had arrived in Denali-five months after we'd left Bella-when they had all been sitting around doing nothing. Out of nowhere Alice jumped up and shouted "NO!", same as I'd just done. She grabbed Jasper and left.

I turned to look at my blonde brother, who was staring around looking guilty. He blamed himself for all of this.

"Jasper, you knew about this too?"

He turned to me. "Alice asked me not to tell. So I just didn't think about it. I'm so sorry Edward, this is all my fault. If I would have more self control…" I let him trail off.

"I don't blame you. It was my fault for getting her mixed up in all of this in the first place." He didn't believe me, but let it drop. I guess the vegetarian diet makes you feel guiltier about things.

While we had been having our private discussion, Alice had filled everyone else in on what had happened.

"So wait, Laurent wanted to turn Bella into a vampire?" Emmett asked, confused. It didn't make any sense. I was stumped too.

"No, that's just it! He was so intent on finishing her!" I cringed, along with a few others, including Alice. "But then the vision just stops! The next on I have is of her deciding to go to a small town. She had a very complicated plan going to make a living. I'm impressed." As was I, after I saw it in Alice's vision.

"That reminds me, Carlisle," I asked, turning my gaze from Alice to my father, "Is it possible for these talents to have… faults?"

"I don't think so. I've known a few vampires for a long time and their powers have always worked perfectly. Why?"

"Well because Alice was having glitches with her visions, and for the entire first hour of school today I couldn't read anyone's mind!"

"No one at all?"

"No! It was just me and my thoughts." _Now that's a scary idea_, Rosalie thought sarcastically. "It came back just after my second hour class started."

"That's interesting. And you can't read Bella's mind yet, can you?" he asked eagerly. I shook my head.

"None of her family," I added, perplexed. It didn't make any sense. Could there be six people, or vampires, running around with glitches in their brains?

"Do you think that maybe she created them?"

"No," Alice added in. "I saw what happened. It was five years after we left, and Edward was still gone. I was keeping tabs on her," I glowered over at her, "and I saw this."

As she retold the story, she flashed it back to me in her mind.

Sara, a girl I hadn't met during the day, started working at a store with Bella. They had lunch together that afternoon, where she introduced Bella to the other two members of her coven, Wendy and Devin.

"Simon, their dad, and Erin, the oldest daughter, came about a decade later."

"Huh, that's just weird," Emmett conceded. The rest nodded their heads in agreement.

_Edward, I think I figured something out_, Alice stated after a moment of silent thinking. Well, silent to everyone else. I raised my eyebrows to let her know that she had my attention._ I think I know why Bella was sobbing and why she's acting the way she is now. _She showed me a few past visions.

The first was Bella, alone in a motel room, reading Pride and Prejudice. She tossed the book haphazardly onto a nightstand by her dusty old bed and instead grabbed the remote control. She began to aimlessly flip through television channels. She settled on DisneyChannel.

_This is life with Derek_

_This is life with Derek_

_This is life with Lizzie, Edwi-_

"Next." She went up two channels and hesitated, staring at the old episode of Grounded for Life.

"_Uncle Eddie, please -"_

Angrily, she flipped off the TV and stuck her tongue out at it. I would've laughed at her childish antics if it weren't for the realization. I was the cause of her sobbing. Of course. Another layer of guilt added to my already overflowing pile.

_Wait,_ Alice thought after I decided to get up. I sat back down.

Bella was telling Wendy, Devin, and Sara about how she had gotten to know of vampires, and the vegetarian diet, but she was becoming more and more incoherent. Her arms wrapped tight around her waist, and her teeth were clamping down on her bottom lip so hard that if she had still been human she would have bit right through it. She never once uttered any of our names.

"You should listen to some music to calm down," Wendy offered, handing over her iPod. Bella looked terrified of the machine. It was easy to tell, though, that she was still her old self. "Trust me, it helps," Wendy urged. Bella still appeared hesitant. "Try it."

I heard the music blaring through the headphones. The sarcastic lyrics of P!nk, Who Knew? And I realized, as the vision faded away, that I had just glimpsed Bella's last moments as her old self. From then on she had become the hard, sarcastic vampire that we had met at school. Three more layers of guilt, and now I want to throw up. I felt like going to eat human food, just so I could.

**So, I wanted to make this longer, but this just felt like a good ending. It would've been up sooner, but I was making a Twilight video! It's up on my YouTube account under the name NoOneWillSurrender! Go check it out! I would like to thank you all again for the now TWELVE reviews I got last chapter! Seriously, do not hesitate to review! They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(: **

**(Oh and if you can't tell, I'll be using things, except for cars, from the present, since I have no idea what type of music and stuff will be popular three decades from now.)**


	7. Story

**Guess who got her blue card! ME! That's who! So, on May 6****th****, you all better watch out because I might become a partially legal driver!!! I'm serious, run for your life. I have never, not once, been behind the wheel of a car. Tehe…**

_Bella-_

"What?!" I demanded Simon as we all sat around the living room. He had just so kindly informed us that we would be going over to the Cullen house, the one we unfortunately lived across from, to 'welcome them to the neighborhood' once Devin got back from football practice.

"Bella, we need to make a plan. It could be very dangerous if there were two large families of vampires living in the same town; the same cul-de-sac."

"Not true!" I argued. "We're all vegetarians! The humans are perfectly safe!" I was desperate.

"But we might not be," he pointed out. And it was true. Two families of inhumanly gorgeous people living so close could easily raise suspicions. Especially if over half of the kids in those families were adopted, and some of them were dating. "We need to decide together what the best course of action is."

"I agree," Erin chimed in a bit reluctantly. I scoffed.

"I don't!" Wendy argued from her seat next to me on the couch. "You two didn't see how upset she was when she told us what happened! If it wasn't for me, and P!nk, she'd still be all depressed and gloomy!"

Sara nodded, clearly remembering my break down. It had been the worst one, since I actually had to remember things. "It was really bad," Sara agreed. I crossed my arms and looked away. If they wanted to talk like I wasn't there than I would act like they weren't.

"Bella, you won't have to say anything any of them," Simon assured, not as confident as before.

"I don't see why I even have to go."

"Because everyone needs a say."

"You just said I didn't have to talk! Make up your mind!"

Half an hour later, Sara, Wendy, Erin, and I were at the local grocery store looking at the bouquets of flowers. Normal people would bring a homemade tray of baked goods to their new neighbors. We had to bring flowers.

"What about these?" I offered, picking up a bouquet of poorly color-schemed daisies; which also looked rather sickly, considering it wasn't really daisy season.

Erin shot me a look, clearly telling me to get real. Rolling my eyes I set the arrangement back in their hole and continued looking. _Stupid manners_, I griped inwardly.

In the end, Sara wound up buying a lovely array of red and white roses. We hung out around town, checking out random stores until it was time to pick Devin up from football practice. By the time we got home it was six. So we waited until seven so that any of our prying neighbors wouldn't get suspicious of us going over before the appropriate dinner time. And that was perfectly fine with me.

The only problem was that we had an hour of free time on our hands, and I was going to visit my ex. So of course the girls decided they wanted to make Edward realize what he gave up. And that involved straightening my now wavy hair, and applying a cherry red lip gloss to my lips. They continued on with mascara and eyeliner, and then a soft pink eye shadow to accentuate my pale white skin.

I was still wearing the same tight, slightly revealing, clothes from school, since I'd been too lazy to pick out new ones after my long shower-which turned into a bath when I could tell the hot water was running out and was still nowhere close to being relaxed-but it was ok. It wasn't like I had sweated in them or anything.

We went downstairs, Devin wolf-whistling a bit jokingly when I showed up, and joined in the sports game they were watching until it was time to leave.

_Edward-_

"Ooh," Alice exclaimed as a vision passed through her head. Bella and the rest of her sisters had decided to leave, to go get us flowers. I was at the window before her vision had ended. "Do you two," she asked, turning to Carlisle and Esme, "want to see Bella?" she asked eagerly, joining me at the window. It was tinted dark, so that we could see out but no one else could see in. Not even a vampire. We were very careful when it came to protecting our secret.

Not even two seconds after our parents reached the window did Bella step out of her house. From her driveway across the cul-de-sac, her eyes skimmed over the all of the other houses, stopping when they reached ours. Her face puckered into a deep scowl, her arms crossing over her chest.

Carlisle and Esme gasped, each for different reasons. Carlisle was surprised at the apparent hostility radiating off of her beautiful face. I didn't need to read Jasper's assessment to know that it was true. But my agreements were with Esme. She was shocked at how lovely Bella had turned out to be.

_Not that she wasn't before_, Esme assured me with her mind, and I knew there was truth in her thoughts. But even with hate radiating from every fiber of her being, Bella had turned out to be even more exquisite. And I smiled. It didn't last too long, though, for I happened to remember why she was so breathtaking. She was a vampire. And it was my entire fault.

Pushing away from the window, I stalked up to my room to sulk. That had quickly become my favorite pastime. I pressed play on my iHome, only to become even more upset at myself.

_And the sun_

_Will set for you_

I couldn't even keep that promise to Bella. I was about to punch my wall, and then thought better of it. That would only cause work, if only a tad, for Esme, and she didn't need that. Plus, she and Carlisle were worried about me enough as it was. I wouldn't add to their unnecessary concern. So I walked out onto the small deck connected to my room by a simple, yet eloquent, glass door, and jumped off the side, Easily, I hit the ground running.

When I was certain that I was far enough into the forest to remain inconspicuous, and where I could find nice large trees, I began to pound on one furiously. It fell after around ten hits. Sighing in exasperation, I sank to the ground and leaned against the fallen tree trunk, picking aimlessly at the grass beneath me.

After a time I pulled out my cell phone and checked the time. I had a half an hour until they showed up. I decided to head back home.

When I arrived, Alice dragged me back up to my room, shoving me onto my bed when we arrived. "Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," she explained, smacking a comb in the palm of her hand as she paced back and forth in front of me.

"Alice," I groaned, knowing that there was no way on earth I would win a style fight against her. I could already see plans forming in her head in case I failed to comply. "Fine!"

She left me in the clothes from this morning, but she stood up on the bed behind me, bending over slightly to run the comb once again through my tangled mess of hair. But, after she done and had handed me the mirror, I noticed that she left it messier than usual.

At my questioning look, she responded, "Jasper told me that girls seemed more attracted to you with your hair slightly messy." I rolled my eyes. My hair style wasn't likely to win Bella back after this thirty year mess I had put her through. I couldn't think of anything grandiose enough to pull off that task. "But try not to mess it up too much!" she chastised as we walked back downstairs. "There's a difference between sex hair and hobo hair."

I followed her over to the couch, plopping down next to Rosalie to piss her off, and opened up Pride and Prejudice for English class. But I couldn't focus on the old novel. I was too nervous. Bella was coming, and I knew that she was incredibly mad at all of us-though it really should be just me… and Rosalie.

Oh yeah, and she was certain that none of us wanted anything to do with her. I had almost forgotten that important piece of the puzzle. I would have to right that wrong first chance she gave me. Until then she could sit and be confused over our unusually welcome behaviors, again excluding Rosalie.

"I'll get it!" Alice shouted, springing away from the couch the way a rabbit would a fox. She was at the door in an eighth of a second. A few of us made to follow, but Esme told us not to crowd them. So it wound up being just me and Alice greeting this new family of vampires.

The one in the front must be their 'dad', though I knew not his name, for all six of their minds were blocked. His finger was millimeters away from the doorbell. Bella rolled her eyes as Alice opened the door. Her arms were, once again, folded across her chest. Two of her sisters, Sara and Wendy, had their arms around her waist, but it didn't appear to be a comforting gesture. It looked more like they were blocking her from making a run for it. Her eyes were glaring off into the distance, her head turned away from the house.

"Oh, hello," the dad offered unsurely. He didn't seem too surprised though. _So she must have told them about us_, I deduced.

"Hi! I'm Alice!" She held out her hand, which he shook with his free one; the other held a beautiful bouquet of red and white roses.

"I'm Simon, and I understand you've met the rest of my family."

"Yes," I answered, my eyes not leaving Bella. She seemed to be aware of me, but refused to glance and make sure.

"Please, come in," Alice offered, guiding Simon into our house. I stayed back and held the door. As Bella walked by, she turned her head to the ground. I noticed that her two sisters were practically shoving her in. I half expected her to trip, the way she always used to when she was mad at me and trying to make a point of it. Of course, she walked with the perfect grace of a vampire.

"Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, these are for you," Simon offered the flowers politely, not a hint of the bitter rage that a few of-or the majority-of his children seemed to harbor. "Just a little something to say 'welcome to the neighborhood'." I noticed Bella rolled her topaz eyes.

Esme took them with care and went into the kitchen to find a vase. I noticed Carlisle staring at me.

_Edward, can you hear any of them?_

I tested each of their minds carefully, though I already knew what the outcome would be. I shook my head no.

And then, less than a second later, everyone's minds were blank. I sank into the chair behind me, rubbing my temples as if to cure a massive headache. I felt eyes on me, and even without the help of her mind, I knew it was Esme.

Slowly, I looked up and found much more than just one set of golden eyes staring uncertainly at me. I gave a weak smile, but offered them no explanation. Bella, unfazed by my momentary break down, continued to glare off into the distance. She looked almost as if she had expected it. _Great, so she thinks I'm crazy…_ I got up and went to sit by Alice on one end of the couch.

Hesitantly, after a few more introductions on behalf of my family, a few of them took seats on the couch. Bella was not one of them. Her father cleared his throat and, with a sigh, she uncrossed her arms and trudged over to a seat next to Wendy, on the end of the couch.

Rosalie, who had stood to give our guests more couch room, I guessed with a lot of persuasion from Esme, went to take up my formerly occupied chair. She definitely did not want to sit by any of these 'newcomers'; apparent even without reading her mind.

However, instead of landing in the chair she had intended to plop into, she fell ass-first onto the hardwood floor. Though I knew she did more damage to it than it did to her. I laughed out loud at the astounded look that passed over my sister's face, before it turned to one of complete rage. The other family was trying unsuccessfully to muffle their laughter. Even Bella's lips threatened to turn up into a smile. Those beautiful, enticing lips…

Rosalie got back up and planted herself firmly, and carefully, into the white chair. Emmett took the red one next to hers, and Carlisle and Esme chose to occupy the love seat. That left me, Alice, and Jasper on the chase, in that order.

"So," Simon began, "I assume you all know why we're here." We nodded our heads in assurance and he continued on. "Clearly you moved in last week while we were away." He was polite, but he didn't appear overly friendly. My guess was that it had something to do with Bella, but I couldn't be certain, a fact that bothered me deeply. I did not like being 'deaf'.

"Yes, and may we ask where you were?" Carlisle asked politely.

"Bella?" Simon inquired, and for the first time since they'd arrived she turned her attention on something. Her jaw locked tighter and she shook her head no. He sighed, turning back to face Carlisle. "It was a family matter."

My father nodded his head in understanding. "I see." Bella went back to glaring at the wall, satisfied that none of us would press the matter. I already knew where they had been, back in Forks with Charlie… unless that had been just a ploy.

"Well, what are we gonna do about this?" Emmett asked, cutting to the point of the meeting. "I mean, it's a little suspicious for two vampire families to live in the same town, but wouldn't it also be suspicious for one of us to just leave?"

"Ah, that is what we have to decide," Simon stated. We all paused to stop and consider these two alternatives; both of which extremely dangerous for all of us. I continued to poke at the places that the suddenly silent minds were, successful in none of my attempts.

_Bella-_

_For every 99 times_

_You looked me in the eye_

_You looked me in the eye_

_And I swore you weren't lying_

_Well, I was so blind_

_I never saw the signs_

_I'm getting out tonight _

_And you're not invited_

I let the song finish in my head as I pretended to not to be aware of the seven vampires across from me. I focused solely on the music, the hateful lyrics to which I could relate so well. Hateful break up songs were always my favorite. My mind had begun to play the next one on the playlist it knew all too well. The playlist titled Edward.

_Comparisons are easily done  
Once you've had a taste of perfection  
Like an apple hanging from a tree  
I picked the ripest one  
I still got a seed_

_You said move on  
Where do I go  
I guess second best  
Is all I will know_

"Bella, what do you think?" Simon asked again. I only knew it was a repeated question because I had been slightly tuned in to the conversation. They were taking a vote on whether or not one of our families should leave. Wendy nudged me in the rib cage, since I hadn't turned my head in their direction. As if they even needed to ask me!

"I think," I began, fixing my glare on Edward's beautiful, penetrating gold eyes from across the sofa, "That someone should leave." I watched in confusion as more than one Cullen face winced. They made no sense.

There really had been no point in asking my opinion, since even with my vote there were still plenty more in favor of all of us staying and seeing if it works.

"I don't see it failing," Alice informed us a few seconds later, "but it's hard to see for sure." She gave me a pointed look, which I returned with a scowl. "Not everyone is decided on staying." Damn her and her visions! I cursed internally, my jaw tightening in anger. In a voice speaking only to me, she added, "It won't work, they've already explained to you what will happen." She gestured to my siblings beside me, who stirred uncomfortably in their seats. They clearly didn't like someone else seeing their futures.

Sighing dejectedly, I decided to stay. Alice and I shut our eyes at the same millisecond, but mine opened much sooner than hers. She was checking the future, no doubt trying to make sure I wasn't planning anything sneaky and backhanded.

Finally, her eyes opened and she smiled. "We're all good. We just need to create a background story now that Bella started one at lunch." She smiled evilly at me. I was really beginning to question how much she really wanted my forgiveness. Because it didn't seem like very much.

Simon sighed from his seat at the end of our family line on the couch.

"What did she say?!" Sara asked, eagerly bouncing on the edge of her seat. She hadn't completely calmed down since the offer to skip eighth grade.

Alice delved into the story I had made up during lunch, but I went back to focusing on the music in my head. Edward was staring at me again with that peculiar expression that I couldn't place. It was unnerving.

I tried not to focus as the created a story about how we all grew up in the same town, minus Jasper and Rosalie, who were Esme's niece and nephew and who had been with the family when they moved into our town. Emmett, Alice, and Edward had all been patients of Carlisle's, and he'd taken a liking to them. He and Esme couldn't have children, due to the car wreck they had suffered along with Esme's sister and brother-in-law. The Hale's had died, while Carlisle and Esme had suffered trauma in their reproductive systems.

Before this had happened, they had been planning a large family. So they agreed to adopt the three children, and shortly after had moved away for a fresh start. This had been when we, Edward, Alice, and I, had been thirteen, just two years earlier. Obviously the whole 'not listening' idea hadn't worked out for me. Jasper's planning was amazing, and impossible not become mesmerized by.

Edward, Alice, and I had been best friends at the orphanage, and their sudden departure from my life had nearly destroyed me. They had been like family, and then to just leave without a goodbye… people would understand my resentment towards the Cullens.

"So we're done?!" I asked of Simon, a little too eagerly for proper etiquette.

"I believe so," he responded, pretending to ignore the urgency of my question.

I was off the couch and on my feet in one fluid movement, Wendy, Sara, and Devin quick to follow. Simon and Erin, the more mannerful of our family, stood up with more subtlety.

"Thank you for inviting us into your home." Erin smiled, looking around one more time. "It's very lovely." I rolled my eyes, taking a few quick steps in the direction of the door. The sooner we left the better.

Simon walked to the front door after a thank you of his own, and I didn't waste time lingering. I was the first out the door, thanks to my poor following skills.

_Edward-_

I watched as Bella hurried in the direction of our door, her hips swaying with each step in a grace she had never possessed as a human. It was a very intriguing walk, and I inwardly scolded myself for the improper thoughts that ran through my mind as they left. I had a lot to think about during the night.

**So I know it's short, and I'm sorry. But I had to end here so that I could start the next chapter where I** **want to. And I just felt like throwing Edward's thoughts in there at the end. I felt it was necessary to point out more changes in Bella, and the best way is through his mind. Please review! They make me feel so warm and fuzzy and appreciated!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	8. Invitation

**Ok, so we've officially hit over 1,000 views! Yay, give yourselves a round of applause for viewing! And if you **_**re**_**viewed, give yourself a pat on the back as well! You have made me smile!**

_Edward- _

I leaned my head back against the red velvet seat of Emmett's truck, staring glumly out the window at the blur of trees and cars as I let my mind wander over what I had done.

I had, in one brief conversation thirty years ago, turned my sweet, shy little Bella into a bitter, cold shell of the girl. Did that cover everything? Yes, I believe so.

_Wow, even _I_ am impressed by the change in her_, Rosalie thought, an astounded air to her words.

Yea, I could read her mind again. Emmett's too. But Alice and Jasper were still closed off from me. And theirs were the two most helpful minds to read. Something wasn't right.

The only person whose mind I had never been able to touch was Bella's. Jasper and Alice had always been open-or as open as they liked since leaving Forks-and it seemed almost impossible that Bella had found five other vampires with her talent of blocking minds from their thoughts. Could it really have just been a coincidence? Or had one of them had a power that involved the mind and they had all blocked it? So many unanswered questions, very similar to those, swam through my brain. I decided to focus on something else. Emmett was singing along to another rap song in his head.

_Now look at this_

_Madness to magnet_

_Keeps attracting me, me_

I chuckled in my mind at the irony of the lyrics. Who knew that my life could relate, even remotely, to a rap song? Me, a hundred-and-thirty-four-year-old vampire, could relate to that absurdity some called music. Actually, the beat wasn't so bad.

_Day and night_

_The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night_

_He's all alone through the day and night_

_The lonely loner seems to free his mind at night_

_A-at, at night_

I began to pat my hands, resting on my thighs, to the interesting tune of the song. _No sex?_ I couldn't help but think. I hadn't detected any mention of it. Sure, it talked about drugs, but that was better than the usually degrading lyrics involved with the genre of music.

_He's all alone _

_Some things will never change_

_The lonely loner seems to free his mind at night_

_A-at, at night_

We were across the street from the school, but I was so engrossed with this new discovery. Could other rap songs relate to my situation as well? I would surely have to look into the possibility.

_He's on the move_

_Can't seem to shake the shake_

_Within his dreams he sees the life he made, made_

_The pain is deep_

_A silent sleeper _

_You won't hear a peep, peep_

_The girl he wants don't seem to want him too_

_It seems the feelings that she had are through, through_

_Oops, sorry Edward!_ Emmett thought regretfully in his head as I hissed at the lyrics. He turned off the radio, and I saw that we were in the school parking lot. He pulled into a spot close to the exit, same as every day, and we got out. Still, even if those words had stung, the song was right. I could appreciate that, even through my anger.

"Did you hear the Johnson's are having a party?!" one girl asked her friend excitedly from the car across from ours. Without turning my head I began eavesdropping on the teens' conversation from my spot with my siblings in the back of Emmett's monstrosity of a vehicle. It was bigger than his jeep had been!

"OMG, yes!" the second responded, "I heard it's for their younger sister. She's been offered to skip eighth grade!"

"I think they could all skip high school, they're so damn smart!" a third joined in.

The parking lot was pretty much the 'hang out' spot before classes. Since the middle school started twenty minutes earlier, and a lot of the high schoolers got dropped off with their younger siblings, everyone showed up early and hung out with their friends; either in cars that one of them drove or on the sidewalk the led to the school. If it was raining, as it had one day the previous week, everyone went inside and hung out in the commons or by their lockers.

The weather was particularly interesting. It was always cloudy, but didn't rain. Instead the air had a muggy feel for it that made wearing tank tops and shorts an almost every day thing.

A silver, slightly flashy, car pulled into the parking lot, and I turned to stare openly at its occupants.

Wendy was the first out of the impressive vehicle, a black graphic tee covering her torso, knee length denim shorts, and matching Chuck Taylors. She held a black cap in her left hand and a messenger bag slung over her neck, hanging on her right.

Devin and Sara passed her, he in a similar black graphic tee, long faded jeans, and Zoo York skater shoes, and she in an Abercrombie Henley and dark skinny jeans. She too wore Converse to match her outfit.

Erin stepped out of the driver's seat in a tee-and-hoodie combo, typical blue jeans, and skate shoes; a stark contrast to her shy persona. And then Bella joined them at the trunk of the car. Her outfit clearly took a lot more work than the others'. And I had thought her too tight jeans and tank top the day before had been torture. This outfit was almost unbearable. I started from the bottom.

She wore the same white leather Converse sneakers as yesterday, only now I realized they were hi-tops, laced with black to match the rubber stripes on the bottom. A pair of black cutoff leggings came down to her knees, the bottoms slightly frayed. Coming down to less-than-mid-thigh was a denim miniskirt, and I appreciated the outfit a little too much. I could tell from the minds around me that I wasn't her only admirer. A low growl escaped my throat. I continued to her shirt and my breath hitched in my throat.

It was all white with a bit of grey writing in the background. But that wasn't what caught my attention. From the left center of her stomach to her shoulder was a dark red heart, and protruding from the middle of it was a long, thin sword.

The message was clear. I turned away, not bothering to notice the sunglasses resting on the top of her long chestnut hair, or the silver necklace/bracelet/ring set of a rose with the word love in the center of each.

I heard Alice 'humph' from beside me and I turned to look at her. She was glaring over at Bella, who was ignoring us. "So she lets them dress her up and buy her clothes, but I had to bend her leg to let me even do her makeup."

"And what's with all the expensive outfits?" Rosalie piped in, she too glaring at the other family of vampire siblings. "I mean, True Religion yesterday, Buckle today? What's next, Forever21?!"

The guys rolled their eyes at their wives' complaints, and I refocused on the girl who haunted my every waking thought. She laughed at something one of her sisters said. I noticed the three girls who had been at our lunch table the previous week, and had been the ones talking earlier walk over and join in their conversation, only a tad bit timid.

_Bella-_

_Mornings are the worst time of the day_, I concluded after my second alarm went off. Groaning, I considered letting it run through and skipping the day entirely. But that would seem cowardly, and that was not an impression I wanted to make on the Cullens.

So with a deep sigh, I opened my eyes and flipped the covers off of my body, groaning as I threw my legs over the side of my bed. Without opening my eyes I crossed the room, nearly crushing the annoyance that refused to cease beeping.

With an unnecessary yawn I walked over to my closet, scratching my wild, wavy hair along the way. Before I could even open the door, Wendy and Sara were by my side, each holding a knob in their hands.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked impatiently.

"We're gonna… help you out," Wendy began with a mischievous tone as she began to sift through my clothes.

"I don't like where this is going."

"Trust us," Sara ordered with a smirk. Sighing dejectedly, I plopped back down on my bed, tempted to lie down and forget the world. As my spine began to sag backwards, ever so subtly in my opinion, my sisters each took a hand of mine and yanked my back on my unwilling feet.

"Here," Wendy ordered as Sara pressed a pile of clothes into my arms. "Put these on, and call us back when you're done." Glaring at the door, I stripped down to my underwear and began looking over the outfit.

The first thing I noticed was the shirt. I snorted in a very un-ladylike fashion, slipping it on over my plain, white bra. I very much appreciated the giant heart with a sword piercing the top of it. So they were trying to make Edward uncomfortable, I realized. I could play along.

The rest of the outfit was very eye-catching, while still remaining school appropriate, with a pair of knee length black tights and a denim miniskirt. I slipped on my white leather Chucks, tying up the black laces and jogging down the stairs.

The drive to school was boring and uneventful, and I managed to tune it out. But I couldn't escape the once again familiar ach in my chest when we pulled in and I saw the Cullens sitting in their truck in our school parking lot. They all looked up when we pulled into the spot next to them, and I glared over at each of their faces.

Rosalie smirked, but no longer glowered at me with pure hate; something to ponder later, no doubt. Emmett grinned at me when my stone cold gaze landed on him, and I purposefully lowered the temperature impossibly more before looking away. Jasper looked like he was in pure agony, and I deliberately became angrier, snickering at the wince that broke out across his face. Alice had a mix of both sorrow and anger when I looked at her, and I quickly turned away, ignoring Edward altogether.

I got out of the car, along with the rest of my siblings, and went to lounge behind our vehicle; none of us acknowledged the vampires to our left.

A short while after we arrived, Amy, Anna, and Natalie came over to wish Sara congratulations about skipping eighth grade, and then started asking about our party. I tuned them out, same as I had in the car, and instead focused my on my shield. I had extended the protection to Simon, after deciding that the Cullens didn't need to know about any of our family secrets. I needed to focus a little because of the long distance extension.

Suddenly I noticed a wicked smile on Wendy's lips. She was tucking her phone away in her hip pocket, and then looked up to meet my suspicious gaze. Her grin widened.

A few minutes later, I caught on to what she was doing, and laughed.

_Edward-_

"So, are we invited or not?" Rosalie asked Alice impatiently. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she stared intently at our sister.

"Mmm," Alice began, and opened her eyes, "yes! Bella is reluctantly going to invite us at lunch!" I noticed the brunette in question turn her ear a fraction of a millimeter in our direction, while still focusing on her siblings' conversation. She was staring intently in Wendy's direction.

Out of nowhere, the sound of booming instruments erupted throughout the parking lot, and it only took us an eighth of a second to locate its source; the radio inside Emmett's large vehicle.

_Shawty_

_T-Pain_, Emmett informed me in with his thoughts. He recognized the song by a group from Saturday Night Live, featuring the popular rap artist. The panic that came with his thoughts was not a good sign.

He hopped out of the back of the truck, yanking open the driver's side door in under two seconds. And faster would've been conspicuous. I hopped in the passenger's side, the rest of our family lurking by the doors.

Inappropriate lyrics, not in the form of sex, but rather language, began streaming from the speakers, and Emmett punched at one of the preset buttons. But the station wouldn't change. Students began to sing along, including some of the vampires in the car to our right. I breathed a sigh of relief when I couldn't detect Bella's voice among the three.

None of the buttons worked, nor the volume control, and Emmett reached for the side of the radio, fully intending to yank it out.

"No!" Alice whisper-cried at the vision of his actions that must've flashed through her brain. I clenched my fist with the frustration at my sudden inability to read her thoughts. "Emmett, it would raise too much suspicion if you pulled that out without any difficulty… or blood." At our questioning looks, she quickly summarized a vision she'd had of a human Bella, only a week after our departure, yanking the car radio we'd given to her for her eighteenth birthday from her car, mangling her hands in the process. I winced, glad that I hadn't had to watch as Alice recapped it in her brain.

What had I done to her?

After a minute and a half of failed attempts to silence the song, and one accidental success in turning it up even louder, in some way or another, a crowd had formed around our vehicle. "Uh-oh," Alice suddenly exclaimed.

The voice of principal Montgomery sounded throughout the students a moment later. "Out of my way! Move!" _Lousy kids! Why'd I have to go in to teaching?!_ He grumbled to himself in his mind. "What's going on here?!" he demanded after he reached our still open doors. He was on Emmett's side.

"I dunno!" my older, behemoth of a brother cried. "We've tried everything, but it won't turn off. See!" He twisted the dial to mute the song and… it turned off. Silence filled the parking lot, surprise in the fleeing minds of the students. No one wanted to be around for this. "Oh."

"My office, now!" I could tell this wouldn't be good.

--

"Hey, how much trouble are you in?" Gabe whispered over to me after I sat down during the middle of first period.

"Detention for the rest of the week," I answered. It would've been a lot worse, but he relented a bit after Emmett 'explained' that the radio had been acting up quite a bit over the past few months, and that he was planning on having it looked at later in the week. He shared a deliberate look with Rosalie, silently planning on having it checked out at night.

"Well, for the rest of the week I think it would be best if you took a different car to school."

"Oh," Rosalie began, "I'm actually taking my license test tonight, so hopefully I can drive us all tomorrow." I laughed at the thought of Emmett huddling into the passenger's seat of her tiny, baby blue sports car.

"Ok, then it's settled. The five of you will come in for detention every afternoon for the rest of the week." He assumed we were all about to groan in protest, so he added, "And you're lucky I don't have you arrested for disturbing the peace." We all held in our chuckles. He was only going easy because of the already high standards our father was held in.

I heard two simultaneous snorts of laughter come from the desk behind mine, and I turned to look at Bella. She was focusing a little too intently on her assignment.

"What, we couldn't stop it!" I explained. She nodded her head, though not in a believing sort of way.

I waited until class was over, and as she began to pack up her things I asked, "Can I talk to you?" I would explain everything that I had said in the forest that fateful day. I had to.

"Can't," she answered curtly. "Places to be." She slung her bag over her shoulder and briskly walked towards the door. My shoulders sagged as I specifically remembered Alice telling me Bella's second period was study hall.

_Bella-_

"I can't believe we had to invite them!" I whined, sliding a stick of cherry red lip gloss over my lips.

"We have to at least pretend to be civil towards them," Sara stated pointedly, and I sighed. I seemed to be doing that a lot.

"But I don't like it."

I wiped a smudge of red that had missed my lower lip, and ran my finger under some hot water. Wiping them gently with a towel, I left the bathroom and went to check my reflection in the full body mirror in my bedroom.

With the help of Wendy and Sara, of course, I had found the perfect outfit to wear for the party. A white miniskirt and royal blue knit tank, both from True Religion. Simple, yet sexy. Edward was going to die. Well, that's what they'd said, at least. But he had long since moved on, and could care less how revealing I dressed; even in his favorite color.

The doorbell rang, and the five of us sprinted to answer it, not surprised to see Gabe, Amy, Anna, and Natalie standing there. They were usually the first to show up.

"Hey, come on in!" Erin greeted, stepping aside to let our friends inside. Wendy led them downstairs, the rest of us following behind. _And so it begins._

**So sorry this took so long! The chapter decided to make itself difficult, and that's why it's so short! Please review! There will be a lot of great music next chapter, so look out!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(: **

**Oh, and I'm looking for both a beta and three people to help me out with a problem! So PM me or review if you want one of those jobs!**


	9. Party

**Alright, so even though I'm getting more reviews than I did at first, I've gotten much more than six! Come on people! Please leave me a review! Seriously, they don't take too long and they make me feel really good! **

**And I'm really sorry this took so long! I'm stuck on something that I'll explain in the bottom AN! Plus, school's rapping up and that takes up a lot of time. But that means summer's coming!**

_Bella-_

"Mind if I join you?" the low, husky voice breathed in my ear, the sound of his smirk echoing in his words. I smiled wickedly, edging away from my siblings and pressing my back into his torso, grinding into his pelvis.

"You came," I stated, attempting to sound sultry but only coming off relieved. His hands rested on my hips, his thumbs hooking under my belt loops; there would be no getting away now.

"How could I miss one of your epic parties?" he asked, and I detected a hint of his usual sarcasm.

"You've missed all the others so far." His hot breath seeped through his lips, landing on my shoulder. It was a bit uncomfortable, but I ignored it, as usual. "And besides, I had nothing to do with the planning of this party. I didn't even pick out my clothes."

He chuckled, low and deep in his throat. "Well, kudos to whoever did; you look incredible."

"Hitting on the enemy?" I asked, pretending to gasp as I moved my body to the music. "Jacob Black, I am shocked!"

"Eh, what can I say? I'm full of surprises." We both started laughing, the charade impossible after so long. Suddenly, his tall, hard body stiffened. It was only for a second, but it was enough to raise my suspicions. "Do you smell that?! It's worse than you!"

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically, ready to come back with my own insult to his overwhelmingly musky odor, when I caught on to what he meant. But the reason it smelled so bad was because it was the greatest my nose had ever taken in. I let out a low hiss.

"What?"

"Just act like you're really in to this," I ordered, gesturing between our barely touching bodies.

"Why?"

"You'll see!" I extended my shield out to his mind, thankful that it would protect his brothers' as well. I wasn't sure how nonchalant I could have been if I had to protect a grand total of twelve minds. "Don't look at the door." He sighed angrily, but pulled me closer and leaned his head in. When their sent hit me strongest I let out a loud, pointed giggle. Leaning up to his ear, I whispered as low as I could, "Cullens," and pulled back. He seemed to catch on to my plan by then, because he held a giant grin on his face. But his eyes had darkened dangerously.

He seemed to have just as much mirth coursing through his body as me by that point, because he started to guide my hips with the beat and the lyrics.

_All my ladies with a body  
Put your hands in the air  
If you's a good looking hottie  
Put your hands in the air  
Project pat looking for a model  
Popping that booty  
I'm a pop bottles  
Your girl's a cutie  
Know she gargles  
Don't get wrong  
Keep them models  
Shawty hot watch her rock  
Let me see that lolli pop  
Body rock don't you stop  
I love the way that booty drop  
Sideways, front, back, up and down, I like that  
Cherry lolli chocolate lolli  
I wanna see you pop that body_

I dared a glance, using my ultra hand peripheral vision, to look at the other vampires and nearly busted out laughing at the variety of expressions that I saw.

_Edward-_

"How much longer do we have to wait?!" Emmett whined, bouncing in his seat on the living room couch. Alice was across from him in hair, her eyes close as s rubbed her temples. It wasn't helping, as I could only tell by the frustrated look on her face.

"I don't know!" she screamed, more at herself in anger than our brother. "Why can't I see the party?!"

"Maybe for the same reason I can't read yours and Jasper's minds!" I offered, annoyed at her griping. I hadn't uttered a single complaint about my newfound handicap, and here she was, complaining about not seeing one little party.

"Jasper's still feeling moods!" she reiterated.

"Look," Rosalie intervened, " no one else has shown up within the last five minutes. I think it's safe for us to go." Alice had insisted on being the last to show up, as per some style etiquette, but had mysteriously lost sight of the party nearly a half hour ago.

"Fine," my little sister huffed, stomping her way out of the chair and over to the door. We followed her out of it, across the street, and into the house with the booming music and delicious, yet still uninviting, sent of the humans. No one could compare to Bella.

Weaving our way through the crowd of drunken teens, we made our way to the basement, which was the source of all the music. Currently playing was a highly degrading rap song that Emmett was singing along to in his head.

We reached the bottom of the stairs, amazed at the amount of people that were there. Basically the entire student body of Astoria High School had come to celebrate Sara joining our grade. And, I noticed from behind a haze of red and green, students from outside our school district. It took all my self control not to leap over the heads of the innocent bystanders and rip the throat off the tall, muscular, tan bastard that had the pleasure of Bella's ass grinding hard into his groin.

But one whiff told me immediately he was no threat… to my already slim odd of winning Bella back, at any rate. He was most certainly, however a threat to everyone and everything else within the vicinity.

But Jasper pressed his hand to my shoulder, explaining that all five of the werewolves had their temper under control. The one humping Bella, I recognized after a moment as her old friend Jacob Black-only Bella-was feeling very smug, my informed brother told me, sounding annoyed and disgusted. I wasn't too far off his mark.

Bella's golden eyes glanced up to meet mine, pure mirth radiating from her entire being. Jacob's expression matched hers. Her moves started to intensify, and I noticed the lyrics. _Stupid, worthless rap._

And what was almost as bad was that Alice's plan had backfired. She'd purposefully arranged my hair the way she'd been doing, which Bella must have become immune to. My jeans had a few minor shreds as far as their knees were concerned, and my polo was an innocent white with light blue crosses. A very none-threatening get up, designed specifically to help earn back a shred of Bella's trust in us.

I could tell that it was a lost cause.

Bella's outfit, however, had managed to capture all of my interest, a task not easily done amongst my kind. But whoever picked out her clothes had managed the near impossible, because I couldn't look away.

My favorite color on her hadn't changed, since her skin was only a shade or two lighter than when she was human. Royal blue still held that same magnificence when paired with her skin. She was also wearing a low waist white mini skirt that only went a few inches down her thighs. And I would have written a personal thank you to whoever picked out her clothes had it not been for the other three hundred pairs of male eyes also entranced by her.

Thankfully she stopped dancing after that song, and she and Jacob walked over to a few chairs to sit and talk. I listened in.

"So how are you holding up?" the wolf asked her. I noticed with much disdain that I also couldn't reach his mind, or any of his friends for that matter. It was very infuriating.

"I'm doing alright," she answered, shrugging despite the underlying tone of sadness. That hurt. My presence made her sad.

"Yea, he was a good man." But I hadn't really changed. Jacob should have had an immediate hate for me from the very beginning.

They sat in silence for a while, forcing me to mull over this new, yet expected information I had acquired. Bella sighed.

"Well, I knew it would happen sometime." Jacob nodded in agreement. It made sense. We had forever, and there were only so many towns that had a near constant cover of clouds. Another silence fell between them before stink-boy broke.

"But enough about that; explain what the deal is with those leaches." _What?_ They had officially lost me.

"Ugh, Jacob!" she whined, her head banging back against the headrest. "I don't know?! I honestly don't know. Right now I'm leaning towards the thought that someone up there," she pointed dramatically at her ceiling, "having some mysterious grudge against me. That's basically my life's story any way."

Actually, it was Alice's idea to move-Alice! How had I not realized this sooner?!

"Alice," I hissed, making my way over to her and Jasper dancing amongst the group of teenagers. "You planned this, didn't you?!"

"Um, no?"

"I'm not talking about the party! I mean us moving here!"

She grinned sheepishly at me, before frowning. "I would have done it sooner, but all the outcomes ended with her destroying everyone in sight, followed by the Volturi hunting her down and killing her entire family. This was the first time I saw an alright outcome," she concluded her speech proudly.

"Which is?" I prodded, desperate to know what she knew. She grinned wickedly at me.

"Not saying." And then her face fell. "Plus I don't have a definite one. But some of them are really juicy."

I groaned aloud, storming off to eavesdrop some more.

_--_

It was well over an hour later that things started to get strange. Karaoke. Drunken teenagers stood up on a makeshift stage, consisting of the leather couch and a coffee table.

It began when three girls, Amy, Natalie, and Anna, got done singing their slightly off key version of Hollaback Girl. And they were part of the few that hadn't touched the alcohol. They were merely running off of the energy drinks left out as an alternative.

Jacob stared after them like a blind man seeing light for the first time, Bella jumping giddily at his side. I would have listened in on their conversation, had she not been pulled away by Wendy.

An upbeat song began playing through the speakers, and I recognized it. To my utter relief, though, Bella hung off to the side as the rest of her siblings took their places in front of our peers.

Devin began with the '_muh muh muh muhs'_, followed by Wendy singing the main lyrics and Sara singing the back up and the '_oh's'_. She joined Devin in the chorus for 'She has got to love nobody', followed then by Erin singing the '_p-p-pokerface_'; all the while every single male human heartbeat began to thump wildly out of control.

Their pattern continued on through the following verse and chorus, Gabe's heart threatening to beat through his chest at Wendy's singing, and I began to let myself enjoy it a little, bopping my head slightly with the beat.

And then, during a break from the lyrics, Bella was pulled on to the couch, being handed Wendy's microphone by the blonde in question. And then she did the sexiest thing I'd ever seen her do. She sang.

_I won't tell you that I love you_

_Kiss or hug you_

_Cuz I'm bluffin, with my muffin_

_I'm lyin I'm just stunnin with my love gluegunnin_

_Just like a chick in the casino _

_Take your bank before I pay you out_

_I promise this, promise this_

_Check this hand, cuz I'm marvelous_

During that last line she proceeded to wiggle the fingers on her right hand at a group of particular horny boy, winking in their direction after her conclusion. She handed the mic back to her sister and hopped off the couch.

There were so many inappropriate thoughts running through the nearby minds that I had the strongest impulse to squish each one with my bare hands at an agonizingly slow pace. Alice, upon seeing my reaction no doubt, grabbed my hand and dragged me into the back yard for some much needed fresh air.

We stayed out there until the song had concluded, making our way back through the sliding glass door out of which we had come.

They were smirking at us.

_Bella-_

That was the God damned funniest thing I had ever seen; a fuming Edward Cullen being dragged from my house by the hand of his tiny sister. If I hadn't been so damn pissed off by that point I would have busted out laughing at his most deserving expense.

But what right did he have to be pissed if I dirty-danced jokingly with my best friend, and become the murderous creature that he was when I sang a few sexual lyrics to my drunk class mates? Seriously, what was his issue?! He dumped me, or had he forgotten? I knew the answer. Vampires never forget anything.

I looked over to my friends for some help, only to find Sara and Wendy whispering excitedly while sideways glancing over at Emmett and Jasper. My suspicions took over, and I walked over to ask them what they were up to.

"Follow us," Sara whispered. We waited until Edward and Alice came back in, sneering superiorly over at them as they did. Something about being surrounded by inebriated teenagers just brought out our mischievous sides.

After that the three of us snuck into the downstairs bathroom, sufficiently locking it behind us as we did. "So?" I inquired, my eyebrow quirking of its own accord as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"We came up with a plan." I listened to their words with eager ears, laughing as quietly as I could bear by the time I had been completely informed. This would be hilarious.

**So this is probably the shortest chapter yet, but I just had to end it there. I'm sorry! The more reviews I get, and sooner, the less wait time you'll have to endure to find out what they were up to!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**

**And I REALLY need three people to help me with a problem I'm stuck on! First three to offer get the job, and to have a general idea of where this story is headed!**


	10. Teasing

**Sorry this took so long! I had finals for school, but now I'm done! Woo-hoo! I'm officially a freshmore!**

**Hmm, so I am pleased that last chapter was our second most reviewed! Who's proud of themselves?! My guess is the eleven of you who reviewed! (I'm proud of you too!)**

**I am sad to say, however, that really only one person has taken me up on my offer to help out! Sorry to the anonymous person that reviewed and offered to help, but I just couldn't do that. Sorry!**

**So thanx to SVUlover for offering up a helpful idea. I could still use two more, so if you want to help move my story along just let me know!**

_Edward-_

"Hey Emmett, Jasper, either of you got a condom I could borrow?!"

The low rumbling that resounded from both of my brothers was inaudible to human ears. _Infuriating little human! Wonder what he'd say if he knew I could squish him like the bug he is in under a second._ Emmett began envisioning all of the possible looks of horror that would wash over the faces of every person that had teased them so far. There were many.

I could only imagine the vile, southern insults Jasper was laying on in his mind. For the entirety of the weekend both his and Alice's minds remained inaccessible to me, and I was about ready to lose it. Every little gasp from Alice, followed by secretive little chuckles that she would only explain to Jasper, would chip away at my patience. I'd had to not-so-politely excuse myself from the house multiple times over the past forty eight hours.

Rosalie looked beyond pissed, refusing to sit anywhere near her husband and her 'twin'. The embarrassment they'd wreaked upon us Friday night was inexcusable; especially when they couldn't come up with an excuse. Alice only looked remotely embarrassed, and also a little amused.

"_Ok, so I know it would be impossible for anyone to beat that performance," boasted Devin into the microphone as Bella, Sara, and Wendy escaped down a hallway, his mouth set almost painfully into a challenging smirk, "but does anyone wanna give it a shot?"_

_We had our jackets, and were just about to head up the stairs when Jasper and Emmett turned around. Curiously, we stared after them. Their hands were in the air like eager school-boys, ready to please their teacher with the correct answer to a very difficult trick question._

"_Good luck," Devin offered doubtfully. A snort of laughter escaped through his nose as he passed the microphone to Emmett. I tried to access my brother's thoughts, and was crushed with disappointment at the silence. Rosalie's was gone now too, and I wasn't sure if I was relieved or concerned. I settled on a mixture of both._

_At the same time as that discovery was being made, a different part of my brain worried about what was going to happen. Each of my brothers' faces had strange looks on them, blank almost. Alice looked confused, trying I guessed unsuccessfully to access the outcome of this unexpected turn of events._

_She gasped as the music began, apparently recognizing the song. I, however, had no inkling as to its identity. Guess I would have to be surprised._

And surprised had I been when a song, by the same group of comedians that had swore through Emmett's truck radio Tuesday morning, began spouting out of my brothers' throats. If only this had been the swear song.

"Hey guys, a bunch of us are getting together to watch Sixth Sense this Friday! Wanna come?!" Devin shouted over to us from a few cars away. The girls busted out laughing.

"Come!" Wendy cried, high-fiving her twin.

One-or both?-corner of Bella's mouth turned up, but she didn't look up from her iPod. I could make out only a little of the song she was listening to; Thinking of You by Katy Perry.

This time my siblings' growls were loud enough for the other family of vampires to hear.

"Ooo, so scary!" Wendy muttered for our ears only. "By the way, what were you guys doing eating grapes and hanging out at grocery stores?" Her question sounded curious, but there was most certainly an underlying tone of mocking, and Rosalie was about ready to jump at her throat.

"Rose, calm down," I tried to soothe her, placing a hand on her shoulder, since Jasper seemed incapable of using his talent at the moment.

"You swear that you had no idea what you were doing?" Alice asked, staring into Jasper's eyes determinedly. He nodded back. That struck up a memory in me, or lack thereof.

"Come to think of it, for a split second, I lost memory too." Emmett's glare hardened in my direction for a moment, assuming I was teasing him, but after a look in my eyes he relaxed a bit.

"So you don't remember your line?" I gulped. We'd all been too mad and embarrassed to talk about this over the weekend, mostly hunting off by ourselves or in couples. I shook my head no at Alice's question.

"I sang?" My voice nearly broke. My sisters' nodded an unwanted confirmation.

"Well, not really. Just like, a spoken line," Rosalie explained, quoting it for me. "_Ok, seriously guys, can we, ok_?"

That wasn't _too_ bad then. Not compared to the torture my brothers were succumbed to. But that hadn't been the worst part of my night.

"_Cullen!" a rough, young voice called out and all five of us turned. Emmett and Jasper were hiding their heads in shame, while Rosalie and Alice attempted to glare holes straight through their respective husbands. I became the unwilling spokesperson for our group._

"_Yes?" I inquired of Jacob Black, and the rest of his pack, who all glared down at us with dark, dark eyes. My unwavering gaze was just as cold; their thoughts were still blocked from my mind._

"_What are you leeches doing here?" he demanded, sneering at us as if we were bugs._

"_Apparently singing karaoke," I responded smoothly. A few growls rumbled from the pack of intimidating man-wolves before us._

"_Funny." His tone implied anything but. "I meant what are you doing in the same town as my_ best friend?!"

"_We didn't know she was living here," I explained, sending a pointed look at Alice, who returned it by maturely sticking her tongue out at me._

"_Stop talking in private, it's annoying!" he demanded. _

"_I can't read her thoughts anymore," I stated bitterly before I could think through what I'd said. _

_The wolves started laughing manically. It was unnerving._

"_If you dare hurt her again, I won't hesitate ripping you piece by piece and watching each one individually burn in the smallest possible fire." He was right in front of me by that point, and had jabbed one of his massive fingers into my chest. I glanced up at him._

"_Of course."He looked like he was focusing really hard on something for a moment, before he growled and cussed. _

"_Dammit Bells!" The group of tan, muscular boys stormed off, leaving us in muddled confusion. _

"Guys, something weird is going on around here," Emmett mumbled, barely loud enough for even us to hear. Clearly this was gonna be a private family discussion.

_Bella-_

I was still laughing inside. The plan had gone off without a hitch!

Emmett singing Andy Samberg and Jasper singing Jorma Taccone was a priceless scene that I was all too happy in replaying it with my perfect memory. My attention was diverted after a minute by the vibration of my cell phone in the pocket of my tight skinny jeans.

I pulled it out, groaning before I even opened it. I knew who it would be from, and he was getting annoying fast.

_Do you think she'd like me?!_

_I dunno know, Jake, stop asking!_

_Ask her then!_

_No! Listen, I have a plan if you would stop being so impatient!_

_Fine, tell me after school. I'll just pace a hole in the forest floor._

_Have fun._

I looked up at the four pounding heartbeats now in front of our truck. Gabe's was over double the pace of the three girls', and it was pretty hilarious. We shared a quick, too quick for their eyes, family look, and Wendy suddenly looked very excited.

"Uh, hey, Wendy, I was wondering," Gabe began awkwardly, rubbing the hair at the nape of his neck in nervousness. She flashed him a brilliant smile. A little too brilliant, as a matter of fact, because he trailed off after a moment.

"Yes?" she prodded angelically, even batting her eyelashes at him a few times. A few strands of her blonde hair were twirled 'absently' around her index finger. I rolled my eyes, though I was smiling. She was just too hilarious.

Sara and Erin stifled their laughter, and Devin pretended to look threatening.

"Are you going to winter formal?" he finally blurted out.

"Not at the moment, but my plans could change."

"Would you wanna maybe, go with me?"

"Sure!" The relief that flooded his face was comical, and Devin and I joined in the laughter muffling. Wendy shot us a swift, pointed look.

"Cool. I'll text you later with the details."

"K."

The subjects changed to lighter topics, and I zoned it all out again, returning my main focus to the music in my ear until it was time for class.

--

"Alright class, today we'll be starting Pickle Ball!" A few of the guys snickered at our gym teacher's announcement, and she pretended not to notice. "Pick your partners and grab your paddles, then I'll explain the rules."

Wendy walked over to me with two wooden paddles in hand, tossing one to me that I caught with ease. I heard a bell like giggle come from somewhere behind and to the side of us, and it didn't take a genius to know who it was. Rosalie didn't giggle.

"Great, she had a vision," I mumbled while Wendy glared over at the other vampires.

"So, this game is a lot like badminton, only with a few changes. You take your paddle and hit the wiffle ball over the net," which didn't even surpass the knee, "and it has to hit the ground at least once before the opposing side can hit it. If they hit it in the air, then you get a point. If you hit it too far and it goes out, they get the ball and a point. Same thing if you hit it to the person in front of you, instead of diagonal. Got it?" Murmured assents rose from the students. "Great, pick your opponents and get started."

"Wanna play?" Alice asked us, bouncing her way over with a huffy Rosalie in tow, with a mischievous tone to her words.

I was going to politely decline, and definitely not send a rude hand gesture in their direction, when Wendy agreed. "Ok."

"No, not ok!" I cried, turning to face her.

"Bella, we've never gotten to play a real game in here!" she whined.

"Wendy, we can't play a real game, even if we wanted to! There'd be people watching!"

She pouted. I sighed. "Fine, we'll play them." If nothing else, it would get their team out of the way. Though we'd most likely end up in the finals together.

Alice squealed, delighted, and Rosalie just looked annoyed. I matched her look as I trudged behind the others. When we got into positions on the court, I noticed Wendy's look. She was a force to be reckoned with.

--

"I can't believe we lost!" she griped from the backseat that afternoon. She hadn't stopped since Alice and Rosalie scored the game point. It had only lasted ten minutes of the class, but that was the longest gym game of our vampire lives.

"We'll get 'em next time, don't worry!" I'd been repeating that sentence all afternoon, and it was getting rather monotonous.

"Enough about Alice and Rosalie," Devin pleaded. "Let's talk about my baby sister finally getting her first date!" He elbowed her in the side with a suggestive look on his face.

"Shut up! You're two whole minutes older than me!"

"And I'll never let you forget it!"

"Wendy," Erin started, and we all hushed up. We all had inklings as to her next words, and we knew they were going to be important. "Just be careful. I don't want to see either of you end up hurt because of this."

"I know, I'll be fine!" Wendy assured, though with a sensitive tone. This was a delicate topic for Erin. So delicate, in fact, that this was her first mentioning of it since last year. I was rather proud.

"You can use my dress, if you want." Whoa.

"Oh, Erin, no! That's yours. For YOUR memories. I won't take that from you." That was really nice of Wendy. I remembered when Erin and her had fought over it for almost a month, Erin finally winning because she had the excuse of an actual date instead of just being part of our group.

"Thanks," Erin mumbled, looking really upset. I patted her shoulder gently.

"Ok, enough talk about this. It's still over a month away for crying out loud!" Sara demanded, instantly lightening the mood. We all smiled at her. I checked my phone and, sure enough, there was a text from Jake. I sighed.

**Sorry this was so boring! It was basically a filler chapter. Please review it though! I promise they'll get better! We just have one or two more dry ones until they get better!**

**And, like I said, I could still use two more people to help me out with this story! PLEASE!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	11. Plans

**Ok, so right now our average reviews per chapter is seven. I'd like to bump that up to eight within the next two chapters. Please! Oh! I posted new character pictures on my Links account! The six other Cullens and the first Bella picture! Go check them out!**

_Edward-_

"Guys, stay out of it!" I ordered, throwing my backpack across the living room upon entering the house after school. It smacked into the wall, too close to leaving a mark. And yet not close enough. I tugged on the hair my hand was tangled in atop my nearly exploding head, eyes closed in an attempt to calm myself. When I reopened them, I winced at the ferocious gazes of my four siblings.

"Edward, we're concerned about you," Alice explained, stepping forward and capturing my attention. She placed my head between her tiny hands, forcing my neck to make a straight horizontal line so I could look her in the eyes. How could one vampire be so tiny?! "You aren't well."

Her words would have sounded soothing and caring if I hadn't known Alice for so long. Deep down, her true intentions were to mock me. She didn't understand why I couldn't march across the street and convey my heart's every feeling to Bella, and why we couldn't simply ride off into the sunset-aside from the fact that we'd be sparkling like nobodies' business, that is-and live happily ever after. I didn't need to read her mind to know that's what she was thinking. It was in her eyes.

I ripped my face from her grasp and turned away from them all, my eyes closed to fight back tears that couldn't fall. "I'm handling it," I growled, fists clenching at my sides.

"No you're not!" boomed Emmett, menace in his voice that I had never heard there before. Snapping my eyes to his-since by that point every mythical mind in the area was blocked from me-and saw the pain that had only been hinted at in his thoughts conveyed completely for me to read. His tone softened a bit for his next sentiment. "Edward, we all miss her." Everyone ignored Rosalie's grumbled protest. "And we all want her back. If you're not going to do anything about it, then we will." I saw finality in all of their eyes, even the blonde standing by his side.

"Rosalie?" I questioned, not willing to believe what my eyes were reading. She turned away.

"I'm not saying that I miss her, Edward. But none of us have been the same since we left. Alice has been so depressed, not even shopping in stores more than once a week. Then there's Esme, whose heart literally broke the day we left, and hasn't been the same since. Emmett hardly teases anybody anymore! Bella was his favorite person to pick on. Add all that, plus your guilt and grief that practically equals theirs', and push it all onto Jasper, who's so overloaded with those two emotions he's been forced to push them onto us, only adding to his guilt, and you get Carlisle, who sits there and tries to hold us all together but it's just not working anymore! Dammit Edward, let us help!" She was practically in hysterics by the time she finished, but none of us could overcome our shock at the depths of her emotions to help her out. Emmett, of course, got over it first and pulled her into his arms.

I came around second, and pushed back the awe and love I felt for my sister in order to enforce my next statement. "Stay out of it."

Alice attacked me the very second my back was to her, and Emmett wasted no time in helping her. He had me pinned in milliseconds, leaving Alice to punch and kick any part of me she could reach. And damn if the little pixie wasn't strong!

Thankfully some God took pity on me, sending Carlisle home from the hospital early because none of the patients that came in were in critical condition. One order from him and my brother and sister were on their feet on the opposite side of the room.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?!" That was bad. Carlisle never swore.

Alice and I began spluttering out everything, and if he wasn't a vampire Carlisle would've had no idea what in the world we'd said. But he was, and didn't ask for repetition. "Kids, I think Edward has a point. Ok, he brought Bella into our lives and took her out. It's his and her choice if she comes back. I don't want to hear anymore on this topic. I suggest you all go hunt. You're too wound up."

They're faces were varied mixtures of shock, anger, hurt, and betrayal for a second. Then they simultaneously cast their heads downward and marched out the front door. Perfect harmony. I, however, turned and stomped my way up the stairs, figuratively of course. Vampires can't really stomp. The hell if I was gonna spend time with them after this!

_No One-_

"So, what's the plan?" Emmett asked after the four of them had stopped running through the trees, and had perched themselves on branches, coupling off on them.

Alice smirked proudly to her big brother.

_Bella_-

"Well if you'd calm down I'd tell you my plan! Damn dog, you sure have your tail in a twist." I chuckled at my own joke, lame as it may have been.

"Har-dee-har-har-har," Jacob mumbled dryly through the phone. "Gosh Bella, you're so funny sometimes! That's just one of the many qualities I love about you!" I rolled my eyes, even if he couldn't see it.

"Can the flattery, mutt, I've already agreed to help you."

"Oh thank God!" I could just see him wiping the imaginary sweat from his deeply tanned brow. "Cuz that joke was terrible! So what's the plan?"

"Well, our winter formal is coming up in a month. Come with us and we'll introduce you. Then just charm her." I nodded to myself, satisfied with my ingenious plan. I spent nearly four seconds coming up with it!

"Oh really, that's great and all Bells. There's just one little problem; how the hell do I charm a girl?!" I couldn't help the laughter that burst from my throat.

"Ugh, it's simple! You just have to understand her character. She's shy, uncoordinated, a tad self-conscious, kind of a wise ass when she wants to be-" Jacob cut me off with a chuckle.

"Sounds like a different human I used to know!" I growled into the phone, causing him to chuckle more. "Ok, ok, so I what, woo her by catching her when she falls, tease her about it, and then apologize for being a dick?"

"I dunno, Jake, you're the one in love with her, not me! You figure it out!" I clicked the phone off, tired of trying to be cupid. I decided to go out for a hunt.

"No, no, I'm fine by myself," I assured my family as some of them made moves to get up. "I just need to clear my head of a few things."

After taking down a few bucks, I propped myself up in a tree, not ready to return to the real world. I began to drift into my thoughts, perched on a branch in the middle of a pine tree, when the gentle patter of feet much to be nimble to be human broke through my reverie. I growled softly to myself.

It didn't take long for the intruder to come into my line of vision, and I nearly launched myself at her once I saw who it was.

"Bella, I know you're up there," she called out confidently when she reached the trunk of my tree. I rolled my eyes. _No shit, Sherlock._

"I'm aware of your extra senses, Rosalie," I called back, my eyes lazily rolling down to look at her. She was standing there, arms crossed over her prominent chest, glaring up at me expectantly. I sighed, turning my body around to face her. "What do you want?"

"To talk, duh!"

"So talk."

"Get down from there!" she ordered, her patience finally boiling over and I smirked. Shrugging, I hopped lightly down from branch to branch, landing with a barely audible thud in front of her. She seemed a bit shell-shocked, same as the rest of her family, and I felt smug.

If any of the other Cullens had ordered me around like that I would've flipped them the bird and told them to F off. But the fact that Rosalie was treating me the same as she used to, granted with a bit more talking, was something I respected. She wasn't trying to kiss up to me like the others. It was… refreshing.

"What?" I demanded, not breaking through my icy demeanor just because of the little respect I'd gained for her. She wasn't about to get special treatment.

"Ok, this whole bitchy thing you have going on, while granted it's entertaining, is stupid. So we left. It was our choice, and you shouldn't be mad about it." My only response was to raise an eyebrow at her. Inside I was fuming. Who was she to boss me around anyway?! But I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of my rage. I decided to focus on my shield, testing its strength. I'd never had so many people under it at such a great distance; and especially not for so long. I'd been gone at least three hours. It was still going strong.

"Really, that's all you're gonna say?" she asked in disbelief, her expression matching mine. I shrugged. Her jaw locked tightly, and I had to fight the smirk. "Bella, you're not fooling me. I know how in love you still are with Edward." Oh, she was good. My mouth fell open, finally giving her an involuntary reaction. It lasted less than half a second, before I snapped it shut and glared.

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? If you weren't still madly in love with him-which I don't understand, by the way, but whatever-you wouldn't be so angry with him."

I had my practiced excuse ready by the time she was finished. "Look." I stretched out the word for emphasis. "When you guys left, I was devastated." I didn't like admitting this to people, but admitting it to their family might pick their consciences, even if just a bit. "That hurt doesn't just go away, even if I'm over him. Ok?"

Her black eyes filled with repressed humor; she didn't believe me. Well damn. And I thought I'd been pretty convincing.

I stomped away from the annoying blonde bitch; because sprinting top speed would've felt like running away, and I was much a fan of running from my problems.

_Um, excuse me, but weren't you the one who wanted to run all the way back to Forks the millisecond the Cullens showed up and pretend to be Izzy Swan, Bella and Edward's bastard?! Hmmm?!_

_Antagonizing voice in my head_, I griped at Old Bella. _Well I wouldn't have enjoyed it_, I assured her, still marching away from Rosalie, who had made no move to follow me; a giant step in the intelligence department for blondes everywhere. She was no doubt going off hunting; eyes that dark should never be allowed around the human population.

"Don't worry," she called back and I froze in my tracks. "I won't tell Edward."

_No One-_

"So how'd it go?!" Alice pounced on Rosalie, literally, the second she walked through the door. Edward had gone off to sulk in the middle of the forest, as per usual, and Esme and Carlisle had decided to go out on a date; a night aboard the family's yacht on the middle of the Colombia River. The four schemers had the whole night to their plans.

"I like this new Bella much more than the old one," Rosalie stated with a tone of admiration. "And do you really need to ask?"

"I was… occupied during the last hour or so."

Emmett shuddered. "Yea, no amount of TV could block out the sounds coming from up there."

"Well, I know one thing: She's still in love with him." Alice beamed, Emmett cheered, and Jasper looked unsurprised.

"I coulda told ya that," he informed her arrogantly, causing Rosalie to scoff. "Anything else?"

"Alice was right. She's more tolerant of me for some reason." They all nodded. It made sense. Bella had turned into a bitch, and bitches tended to respect one another. "So, what's our next idea?"

**Alright, shortest chapter yet, and I'm sorry for that! It was just another filler, but I do like this one a bit more than the last. I'm going out of town this week and wanted to post something before I left. Please send me some love!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(: **


	12. Dance

**Sorry that updates are lacking! I haven't been quite sure where to go with this chapter. Plus, a lot of stuff is going down, hopefully making up for the lack of excitement recently. So get ready!**

_Edward-_

_Meet me at the docks in ten minutes,_ a mysterious text message commanded me, and I stared confusedly at the phone for a moment, not recognizing the sender. There was no name, so it wasn't a contact of mine.

Compelled by my curiosity, I did as the message instructed and nine and a half minutes later found myself standing on a Colombia River dock, looking around for anyone I may have recognized.

"You came," the voice from behind me sounded surprised, and I spun to face it.

"What do you want?" I asked, taking a hesitant step forward.

"Look, there's something I think you should know." They paused then, and I encouraged them to continue with an arch in my eyebrow. "You're not the only reason Bella's acting this way. A-a lot of stuff has happened since you've been gone. Stuff she won't even tell us about, but it seemed really bad. I think she's trying to forget about it, and she's taking all the pent up rage from it out on you."

My mouth fell slack, mainly for dramatic effect, because I was shocked. "Are you serious?! Like what?!"

The person shrugged. "None of us know. She disappeared for about six months, and when she came back she was different. I mean, she'd changed before because of that stupid song," she glared off into the water for a moment, clearly remembering something that I was dying to see. "But this was even worse. She was almost as bad as she is now."

My already tight stomach clenched even further. As excited as I was that Bitchy Bella wasn't entirely my fault, I felt terrible that she'd had to suffer something and I couldn't have been there for her. So much had gone wrong that I could never have anticipated. That didn't stop the guilt.

"Why are you telling me this?"

She hesitated a moment. "You're not as bad as we'd all been led to believe." And with that she took off. I stood there for hours, contemplating this new information, debating whether or not to relay it to my siblings. In the end I'd decided not to. It wasn't their problem, and I'd done enough to them. Plus, I wouldn't have been able to take the grief they'd no doubt give me when they realized that our leaving was for nothing.

That was three and a half weeks ago. Now, the five of us sat at a table in the poorly lighted cafeteria of our school, watching our classmates dance degradingly to even worse music. I had a plan, and I had been waiting for this night to set it in motion.

"Alice, I don't get why any of us even have to be here!" Emmett whined. Alice, however, had other priorities. At the moment it was running that God-forsaken comb through my impossible hair once more. In another half a second she was standing in front of me, readjusting my silver tie for what felt like the hundredth time this evening.

"Bella's gonna be here," she explained, fixing the black collar of my shirt, followed by the matching jacket.

"Alice, I'm fine! Stop fussing," I complained, shooing her away with my hand. She 'hmphed' and went to sit by Jasper, who was swirling spiked punch around a plastic red cup.

"Right color, wrong smell," he complained, wincing as he sniffed it.

Finally Emmett grabbed Rosalie's hand, lifting them both up and into a graceful twirl as a slow song began through the speakers. My face fell onto my fist and I twirled around my finger.

Within the ten minutes following that boring conversation I shot down at least eleven girls that invited me to dance while their dates were either in the bathroom, hitting on a different girl, or not existing.

"Bella's getting close," Alice whispered as a particularly persistent girl rubbed my arm. The now familiar twinge in the place where my useless stomach still sat flared up at the mention of her name. The girl gave up due to my lack of attention, and I turned my whole body towards my tiny sister. "At least, I think she is. Our future went blank again, and that seems to happen more often than not when she's around." I nodded my head in understanding, briefly considering the idea that Bella was the reason for my sudden inability to read anyone's mind at will.

"I don't get why she's coming. I mean, what interest would she have?" A thought occurred to me. "You don't think she has a date, do you?!" I was panicking now. "What if it's that kid that ogles her at lunch every day?! Or worse, what if there's a secret family member that they don't tell people about because he's too old, or lost his arm in a battle?! Or maybe-"

I hadn't realized I'd been voicing my sentences out loud until Alice smacked me, just hard enough to get her point across without alerting anyone to the sound. I snapped my head back to her at an appropriate speed, glaring for a quarter of a second.

"Thanks," I finally breathed out. "I needed that."

"Anytime," she promised with a smirk in both her eyes and her tone. Then she turned her smugness to the door. My eyes followed hers, widening at the site.

_Bella-_

"Ugh, Jacob, for the last time, you look fine!" I shouted as my best friend, once again, adjusted his tie and ruffled his hair. Sighing, he settled back into the corner backseat that he'd barely managed to squeeze his large self into, since Wendy had her own ride to the dance.

"I can't help it! I've never been so nervous in my life!" he admitted, looking seriously panicked. I snickered. "What if she doesn't like me?"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Sara shouted from her spot in between the whiny werewolf and her increasingly uncomfortable husband. "Alright, you said this whole imprinting business is like finding your soulmate, right?" Jake nodded, still a little shocked by Sara's outburst. That was usually Wendy's area of expertise. "Well then she has to return your feelings! It's inevitable!"

"Yea, I guess." He only sounded slightly more convinced.

Erin pulled into the school's overly crowded parking lot, though our usual space was still thankfully available. Sara practically shoved Devin out of the car. "Thank God! _Fresh_ air!" She took a purposeful breath of the cool night air and sighed. Jake scowled.

"Let's go, drama queen." We all followed behind Erin who was less than thrilled to be here. I could empathize. The only reason either of us were going was to give Wendy-and on my part, Jake too-moral support.

While we walked at a slightly fast human pace I scanned the parking lot, and my eyes fell on the powder blue sports car that had replaced the truck as the Cullen's mode of transportation. I felt my stomach drop. _What if Edward was here with a date?_ I really didn't feel like pretending not to care. Oh, the things I did for my friends. They were gonna owe me big time after this.

I made a show of turning my head away from the beautiful family staring at us when we entered, instead dropping my eyes to the sparkly four inch high silver heels I'd been forced into. It wasn't like I couldn't walk in them, it's just that I didn't like to. But they matched the silver lining on my royal blue dress, so I had no other choice.

We chose a table near the door to wait. Wendy and Gabe hadn't shown up yet, which was understandable because they'd only left a minute before us, and since his mom was driving it was understandable for them to be at least five minutes late.

His face had been priceless, and it had taken him quite a long moment to recover as Wendy met him at the door. It was a reasonable reaction, and one we'd all received from first Jacob, though his didn't last nearly as long, and also the students that had seen us enter.

I giggled, and the others turned strange looks in my direction. "I was just remembering Gabe's face when he saw Wendy." They started laughing as well, though Jacob's memory of it couldn't have been as clear as ours. Silly werewolf.

When the two slow pokes finally arrived we got up and joined them on the dance floor, our other friends joining in too. I tried to remind Jacob not to stare too much at Amy, but it didn't work out that well. Finally we decided to put our plan into action.

It started with Amy going to get some punch while the rest of us went back to a table. We helped her out by not being thirsty. Her steps were slow and careful as she tried not to trip on her way to the food and beverage table. I shoved Jacob after her once she reached it, and then followed at a safe but curious distance.

Just as expected, Amy started to fall forward on her first step, and Jacob had to catch her around the waist. She blushed as she looked up at him. "Careful," he murmured, helping her steady out on her rather short heels. He took most of the drinks from her hands and gave her a shy smile.

"Thanks," she mumbled back, not meeting his gaze. Absently, I took a sip of the punch, spitting it back out and smiling uncertainly at the people that had noticed. I glared at the Cullens, who were chuckling to themselves on my behalf.

I got back, and after a while most of our group went out to dance. I was left with Erin, Jacob, and Amy as company. Looking across the auditorium, I noticed Edward sat alone at his table. Sucker.

He was glaring out the window, so I had a few short moments to admire how handsome he looked in his black shirt, jacket, pants, and shoes, and silver vest and tie. His incredibly impossible hair was, as always, untidy, although this time it looked a little purposeful. I glanced away the millisecond he caught me staring.

"Why don't you just talk to him?" Erin suggested, her voice a whisper so that we were the only two people involved in the conversation. I brought my head closer to hers.

"I don't have anything to say to him," I answered, and she sighed. "He left me, remember?"

"You're right. But still, I think you deserve some answers." I gave her a sad smile. I could only imagine how she was feeling. I could, however, relate with Jonah. Poor kid.

I watched our family and friends dance, since Jacob and Amy's conversation had resorted to cars. Who knew she was such a fan?

After another hour, Amy, Natalie, and Anna had to leave. Something about sleeping and shopping the next day. Jacob had smoothly managed to get her number and a promise to see some car movie with him when it came out in the summer.

"Wow Jake, who knew you had game?" Wendy teased, smirking. Gabe was off getting her some punch she could no longer refuse to drink. He would have started to get suspicious.

Jacob stuck his tongue out at her, only causing her to laugh harder. He turned to me then. "Bella, thanks for everything." I smiled at him.

"Sure thing Jacob. It's nice to see you happy for a change." I sighed, glancing down at the table.

After a moment of silence I looked back up at him. There was a very evil glint in his eye, and I felt my head cock to the side. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Bella, wanna dance?" He was offering his hand.

"Jake, what are you doing?"

"Edward," he spit the name in a taunting tone, "is watching." Laughing slightly and rolling my eyes, I accepted his hand and allowed him to lead me to the dance floor, my family and Gabe following suit. I laughed at the Lady Gaga 'Christmas' song that the DJ was playing. It was very dirty, meaning the game was much like the party at our house over a month earlier. Jacob's abnormal temperature was no more comfortable this time around.

I couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped my throat when Jacob started singing along with Space Cowboy. Man, these singers have strange names!

"_Let's falalalala lalalala! _He's eating this up," Jacob whispered, leaning in close to my ear. Deciding to use that, I giggled, sparing a glance at the Cullen's table. They were all giving me strange looks; Edward looked murderous. I laughed harder.

It was only a two and a half minute song, and before I knew what was happening Jacob had switched our positions to match the slow Taylor Swift song that had replaced it.

After about five seconds, a gruff, restrained, sexy voice interrupted us. "Mind if I cut in?"

I turned to slowly glower at Edward, who had a matching look turned on Jacob, who was matching Edward's easily. I thought of the conversation I'd had with Erin. Sighing dejectedly, I released my hold on Jacob.

"Fine," I muttered. "Jake, maybe you need some punch?" After one more second of glaring, he turned to me with a softer look and nodded. He had started to shake.

Without a word, Edward wrapped his strong arms around my waist. He had taken off his jacket and rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, bearing wonderful, white forearms to the world. It was like he wanted to make me die again.

Dejectedly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to sway awkwardly with him. Without looking, I knew that both my siblings and his alike had stopped their movements. Even Gabe was staring, shocked, at Edward and I.

"What do you want?" I finally asked as the lyrics began. I was going to make this as brief as possible. The more time I spent in his arms the harder it would be to leave them.

"To talk," he answered softly, trying and failing to meet my gaze_. Yea, because you definitely aren't going to try and dazzle me into agreeing with whatever you're about to say, Edward. Good one._

"So talk."

He sighed, looking up for a second as if to catch his breath. "Bella, I'm sorry."

"Ok," I answered, not believing him for a moment. I was just ready to leave. Hell, I'd been ready to leave since the moment Sara informed us we'd be going to this thing to support Wendy.

"You don't even know what I'm sorry for," he argued gently, attempting once more to catch my eyes. I shrugged.

"For coming back I suppose. You promised me you wouldn't," I reminded, hoping he didn't catch the bitter edge to my tone. He needed to think that I'd stop caring. Ever since that conversation nearly a month ago with Rose I'd been making a point to ignore all of them as best as I could. It had been working rather nicely until this very moment.

"That's one of the reasons. Another is for ever making that stupid promise in the first place."

"It's not like you could've known that Laurent would come back for me." I didn't know why I was trying to argue for him, but I was kind of hoping that I was off track, and that I was frustrating him a bit. Whether he still cared for me or not, he was a gentleman, and gentlemen never let a lady take responsibility for anything, as he'd made sure I was aware of back in Forks.

"Bella, you're missing my point." Yep, he was getting frustrated.

"You aren't being clear," I pointed out, my voice raising an octave.

We were silent for a moment, each gathering our thoughts. I was as confused as ever. What point could he possibly be trying to make if he wasn't apologizing for his empty promise of never seeing me again, and if he wasn't apologizing for breaking that promise? He could be so cryptic! It was annoying.

I listened as the first chorus of White Horse came to an end, meaning the song only had another two and a half minutes left. Edward tried pulling me closer, but I resisted. He seemed to have forgotten my stubborn nature and matching strength.

"Bella, would you just look at me?"

"Why? So I can be tricked into forgiving you and we could 'still be friends'? I don't think so." After another short moment, an idea occurred to me. Hopefully he would forget about whatever this was and just leave me alone if he thought-"My shoes are a better site anyway."

Everyone with hearing sharp enough to eavesdrop on our impossibly quiet conversation gasped, and a few of them were stifling giggles. Gabe was asking Wendy to tell him what was going on. He had been properly informed that our family was gifted with very strong hearing.

"Bella, I don't want to be your friend." More gasping, and I fought with everything inside of me not to start dry sobbing. _And you want me to stop being rude to this guy?_ I bit at Old Bella, who'd been feeling rather smug during this conversation, and had convinced herself that he was trying to apologize this whole time for ever leaving me in the first place. Idiot. Now she was confused. I ignored the stab that my dead heart hadn't felt in a long time.

"Wait, that's not what I meant. Ugh!" He was shaking his head, a quick glance up through my eyelashes informed me, and looking very upset with himself.

"Well then, what do you mean, Edward, because the more you talk the less you make sense, and I'm getting sick of it!" I paused for a moment, a correct form of that sentence popping into my head. "No, I've always been sick of it. Just say what you need to and then leave me alone."

"Bella, I can't leave you alone anymore. I've been fighting for thirty years to leave you alone, and then Alice decides to move us to the same town as you-" he ignored my gasp at that statement "-And I just can't do it anymore." Grabbing hold of my chin forcefully, my confused eyes had no choice but to stare into his determined ones. "I had to leave the country for a decade because if I was close enough to you that I could run to where you were I would have done so in a heartbeat-or, blink of an eye I guess would be a better choice of words."

"Edward, I-" there were no words that I could form as I tried to think of every excuse for what he was saying for me. Understanding was beginning to dawn on me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it once it did.

"And then when I get back, I have to live with Alice's scattered thoughts, hiding from me the fact that you're a vampire, and the rest of my family's anger and resentment and pity because none of them even got to tell you goodbye. And nearly every vision Alice would show me would be of me, running back to Forks to hunt you down. She'd stop them there and I'd never even know what I would find. For a while I was half convinced you were dead because Alice refused to look at your future."

"I am dead Edward. I have been since September 16th, 2005." I couldn't stop the words before they had escaped, but I probably wouldn't have anyway. He needed to know what he'd done to me all those years ago, no matter how much pain it caused him.

Most likely trying to mislead his thoughts, he muttered, "I thought Laurent changed you at the beginning of March."

My answer was short and blunt. "He did."

He winced once more, his eyes closed as he faced away from me.

"And anyway, why would you care if I was dead? _You_ left _me_, remember?"

He turned back to me, regret swimming in his liquid gold eyes. "I do." His voice was filled with so much sorrow I almost pulled him closer, into a hug. Almost. "Bella, those lies I told you in the forest will forever be the biggest mistake of my existence."

My eyes widened, and if I'd had a heartbeat it would have stopped right then. Slowly, my head began moving back and forth. He didn't seem to notice. "I thought that if I left you, you'd be safe. That you could have a normal life and be happy." I winced at the thought of my happiness, glaring at him for mentioning it. Again, he didn't seem aware. "If I would've known that he would come back and find you…" Edward reached up to cup my face, but I flinched away. My hands were on his chest, trying to shove him back, but he wasn't giving in.

"Edward, stop, just stop!" I was barely keeping my voice between us by this point. Some of the hundred or so students left at the dance were becoming aware of us, and that was the last thing I needed. "Please, stop lying to me."

My voice was low and pathetic, and I had to bite my jutting lip because it had started to tremble. He looked confused.

"Lie? Bella, I'm telling you the truth," he insisted, his eyes doing that strange, magical thing that used to make me forget everything except for him. I looked away; my head was shaking again, though more forcefully this time. "I love you."

_And there you are on your knees  
Begging for forgiveness  
Begging for me  
Just like I always wanted  
But I'm so sorry_

"No you don't! And you aren't sorry! I don't know what you're doing, but it's not telling me the truth!" I was in hysterics now, and Edward was trying unsuccessfully to pull me into his embrace. "As much as I want to believe you, Edward, I just can't." He finally let me go, and I pushed myself back a few feet so I could breathe something beside him. I smelled Jacob, who must have been standing nearer than I'd thought, and took a great whiff of his disgusting animal scent before continuing. With wide, scared eyes, I looked up at him. "Edward, I just can't trust you again."

And then I backed up into the crowd, my siblings surrounding me as we made our escape. Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper were following close behind us, and we were all forced to move at a human fast walk pace as we weaved through the throng of confused teenagers. When we reached the door, Wendy turned to Gabe, who had been able to keep up with us. "I'm sorry, but I have to go with them." She was talking just a little too fast for him. "I had a great time, and I'm sorry." Without breaking pace she pulled him in for a quick, forceful kiss. "I had a great time."

Devin grabbed her by the wrist and, with me still in the middle, we made our way to the car. Before I knew it I had been forced into the back middle seat with Sara on my left, Devin on my right, and Wendy on all of our laps. Jacob had taken the passenger's seat and Erin was zipping us out of the parking lot, leaving a stunned Cullen family standing just outside the auditorium doors.

_This is a big world  
That was a small town  
There in my rearview mirror  
Disappearing now  
And it's too late for you and your white horse  
Now it's too late for you and your white horse  
To catch me now_

**Oh man, this one was a toughie! Well, the middle part was. The beginning and the end were alright. Please review! The excitement isn't over for their night!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	13. Newborn

**I am so sorry this took so long! I really didn't have any ideas for it! Plus our computer got a virus, I just got my braces off, and I've been practicing my driving. Please forgive me! Oh, and their night is over. I had something planned, but I'm gonna move it around a bit.**

_Bella-_

"Bella, please look at me." I glared down at the notebook that I was pretending to take notes on, because I couldn't just look up and glare into his eyes. One glance and he would make sure I never looked away again. Him and his stupid mind games and velvety voice.

We were in math class, and he was turned completely away from the teacher, as he had been all hour, trying to convince me to talk to him. I had been trying my best to ignore him all during science class and had pretty much reached my breaking point.

"Please." My pencil snapped between my fingers and a growl too low for human ears escaped my throat.

He'd left me alone the first week after the dance, simply staring at me from a distance, but now he had decided to take action. He was starting to sound angry, and that was the only thing that kept me from reacting to his persistence.

"Mr. Cullen, perhaps you could leave Ms. Swan alone for a moment and answer the question." Before he'd even finished the suggestion I had the teacher's mind protected by my shield, and listened in pleasure as Edward stumbled around for the answer.

After a moment he sighed in defeat. "Um, could you repeat the question?"

A collection of gasps rang out through the room and I smirked at the song written on my notebook. In the nearly two months Edward had been at our school, never once had he needed to ask a teacher to repeat a question, even when it was painfully obvious he hadn't been paying attention. The teacher ignored him and turned to Devin, who proudly answered the should-be first grade question.

The bell rang soon after that and I rushed from the classroom, ignoring his insistent calling. I stopped in front of the empty music room and in a snap decision decided to skip my study hall and work on the song that had been taking course in my head.

--

"Hey, has anyone heard about the killings in Portland?" Natalie questioned the table at lunch.

"Oh yea! There's been three deaths in the last week!" Gabe announced from his seat by Wendy. He was holding her hand in between them, and it was sickeningly adorable. "The weird part is that every body has been drained completely of blood!" Natalie glared at him, as though that had been what she wanted to share. This information go the attention of the six vampires at the table.

"Really?" Edward asked cautiously, trying to sound casual. "What else?"

Gabe pulled a newspaper out of his backpack. "My mom made me carry it as a reminder to be careful and blah, blah, blah," he explained at everyone's confused looks. "Here." He tossed it to Edward who began reading it aloud to the five of us, just quiet enough so the humans wouldn't hear.

Basically it was saying the victims were found at night, not an ounce of blood in their bodies, though there was a bit of it on their clothes, and they each had teeth marks over their pulse point.

"Maybe it's vampires," Anna joked, waving her fingers in a spooky fashion while "Ooo-ing"

The accused didn't find that funny one bit.

Later that night, Erin and Wendy mentioned this to Simon while I read a mystery novel. "Do you think we should have a meeting?" Erin wondered, and my head snapped up.

"No!" I shouted. "I mean, well, it's not our business if some nomad wandered into a city and decided they were thirsty."

"But the work sounds sloppy, like that of a newborn," Erin argued. "And if it is a newborn, they're likely to get us exposed by the end of the month. We shouldn't risk it."

The three of us stared expectantly up at Simon, Wendy seeming highly amused by the situation. Bitch.

"I think we should give it another week. At least then you'll be on winter break and we can spend all the time in the world making plans." We nodded, and I prayed it was just some nomad passing through. "Bella, you might want to let Jake and the pack know, just in case."

I really didn't think we'd need their services, but I texted him anyway.

_Did you read about the killings in Portland?_

He didn't respond until I was lying down for the night.

_Yea, it's definitely a vamp job. Need us to take care of it?_

I typed quickly, hoping he would leave so I could relax.

_No, not yet. We're gonna wait and see if anything else turns up. It might be a newborn, but it might not. If there're any more killings within the week we'll have a meeting with the others this weekend._

_Aw, but we're bored! Fine, but I'm coming up this weekend anyway._

_Oh, how cute!_

_Shut up. _

_Night Jake._

_Later._

Over the course of the next four days five more bodies had been found, and that, unfortunately, meant we had to invite the Cullens over on Friday night. The killings were becoming the main topic of gossip at our school, and they'd also been moving closer to our town. Portland was almost two hours away. But the latest death, which took place in Melville, was just under thirty minutes away. Kids were getting scared.

"My mom won't even let me out after dark!"

"I had to cancel all my plans for the weekend!"

"We're spending Christmas in Alaska. Dad decided he wants to 'visit the rest of our family'."

The only kid that didn't seem terrified was Gabe. He walked with us to our car after school, same as all the other days this week, but stopped a few feet away. Because we definitely wouldn't be able to hear what he was saying from all the way over there.

"Hey, um, I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie tonight."

"You're not afraid you-we'll get eaten?" she teased, catching herself. He didn't need to know that she would be one hundred percent safe. And, since he'd be with her, he'd be fine too.

"I'll take my chances." She grinned. "So, pick you up at five?"

"Sure!" She pecked him on the cheek and skipped to the back door, waving once more before she got in.

"Wendy, why would you do that?!" Erin asked once we'd pulled out of the parking lot. "Have you forgotten that we have plans as a family tonight?! Wait, I can answer that for you."

"I'm sorry Erin, but I really want to go! And I bet you're working tonight anyway, and Devin has football practice, so I'm not the only one going out tonight."

"Yea, but my shift gets done at six, and Devin gets home by 6:30 every night, giving us both plenty of time until seven when they come over!"

"Well then I guess it'll have to start late."

"People are dying, Wends! You're just going to ignore that."

"No one's gonna die in the three hours that I'm out seeing a movie with my new boyfriend." Erin shook her head as she sped down the road.

"Ok, how about a new topic of conversation. Oh, I know! You guys can help me memorize my very difficult vocab words!" Sara suggested, sarcasm and fake enthusiasm dripping in her words. I chuckled, taking the list from her hands.

"Ok, foreshadowing."

"Oh, um, that's s toughie. I'm gonna guess it's a literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story."

"Wow, you're right! Sara you're so smart!"

"I know!"

We continued to make fun of the list of words until we got home where, after Wendy dressed for her date, I was forced into trashy, stylish clothes. "You want to look like you don't care," Wendy explained after she had pulled my hair up into a low ponytail, a few loose pieces strategically left out to hang in my face. She pulled a white V-neck out of my closet and across the front you could barely make out the words "I'm not doing shit today", written in a brighter white than the shirt. At the same time Sara pulled out a pair of ripped black skinny jeans. They got into an argument when it came to my bra.

"She can't wear a black bra under a thin white shirt!" Sara stated the obvious. "Everyone will be able to see it!"

"That's the point!" Wendy argued back. "It would drive Edward crazy!"

"Well," I intervened, "since that is not the point of the day, I'm gonna have to go with the strapless white bra." Wendy slumped, but I grabbed the lace black panties from her before shoving them both out of my room.

To top the outfit off, of course, were my still pristine white leather converse. The black heels sat untouched by my closet. Even I had my limits.

The wolves showed up at 6:30 and I called them down into the basement with Sara, Devin, and of course myself to listen to music and whatever else. Erin, the goody-two-shoes that she is, was upstairs helping Simon get ready for our guests.

Right when Jake and I were three and a half minutes in to singing Dead and Gone we heard the sound of a front door slamming across the street. "Perfect timing!" I grinned wickedly, turning up the volume.

"_I turn my head to the east, I don't see nobody by my side. I turn my head to the west, still nobody in sight. So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride. That old me's dead and gone, but the new me'll be alright. I turn my head to the east, I don't see nobody by my side. I turn my head to the west, still nobody in sight. So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride. That old me's dead and gone, but the new me'll be alright_!"

I couldn't believe it took them that long to cross the street, even if humans were watching, but our doorbell rang as I started in on the chorus. Still, there was no way they missed my little performance. It was probably loud enough for some humans to hear.

"_The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone. And oh, I've been traveling on this road too long, just tryin to find my way back home. The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone_."

"Bella, the Cullens are here!"

"Yea, and-?" I asked back as the thirty second musical ending to the song played.

"Come say hi."

"I'm entertaining company down here!" The wolves sniggered. "Hey, my singing is entertaining!"

"You could say that again," Embry muttered, earning him a pillow to the head. "Hey!" Being the mature, two year older one, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'll come up when Wendy gets home!" That wouldn't be for at least and hour.

I heard Simon mumble apologies for my rudeness. The next thing I knew Jacob had the laptop in his hands and the Cullens plus Simon and Erin were in the downstairs living room. I glared at my 'dad'.

Lollipop began blaring through the rather loud Macbook speakers, and suddenly I was smirking. Jake handed it back to me, his look matching my own. I looked at the playlist he'd chosen; the one Wendy had cleverly named 'Inapropro'. Simon looked annoyed.

Four minutes into the song and Simon couldn't take it anymore. It might have had something to do with me and Jake singing degradingly to each other while the other wolves laughed and Sara and Erin ignored us, but I couldn't be sure. "How long is this song?"

Before I could answer, Esme spoke. "Five minutes." The whole room got silent, minus the laptop, as we stared at her in open mouthed shock. The only one who didn't seem surprised was Emmett. "I can't tell you how many times Emmett's played that song at full volume," she added, seemingly unaware of our surprise.

By the time Wendy was supposed to be home Jake, Embry, and I had sang our way through Smack That, Sexy Can I, Turnin Me On, Hey Sexy Lady, Touch My Body, Push (Enrique Iglesias version; Emmett asked if that was legal, since his name meant Church in Spanish, and he got a smack on the head from his wife), and Shake it. I'd gotten bored and bought a new song that I'd set to play next.

"Whatcha doin Bells?" Jake asked, leaning his head over mine to look at the screen.

"Buying a song we heard the other day. Wendy wanted it." Sara perked up, knowing which one I was talking about, and came to sit by the love seat I had spread myself out on. It was a pretty amusing song.

"Oh come on, Mariah Carey?!" Jake exclaimed, and his pack laughed. We glared.

"It's a fun song!" Sara argued.

"Sure, sure."

"Well then go text Amy if you don't want to listen to it."

"I did, she's eating with her family."

"Sucks for you then." And with that I pressed play.

Sara sang the beginning part because she'd actually listened to the entire song, whereas I'd only heard the chorus. So that's where I joined in.

"_Why you so obsessed with me? Boy I wanna know. Lyin that you're sexin me, when everybody knows. It's clear that you're upset with me. Oh, finally found a girl that you couldn't impress. Last man on the earth still couldn't get this. You're delusional, you're delusional. Boy you're losing your mind. It's confusin yo, you're confused, you know. Why you wasting your time? Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex. See right through you like you're bathing in Windex. Oh, oh, oh, boy why you so obsessed with me?_"

"You know, at the part where she says last man on the earth couldn't get this, kinda makes Mariah sound like a lesbian," Emmett noted, staring directly at me with challenge in his eyes. He definitely didn't mean Mariah.

"Maybe she is," I responded easily. I ignored the shocked looks and the laughs at my joke, only smiling a little at the screen of the computer. I sang along again with the choruses, chancing a glance up at Edward. I was pretty sure he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye while he pretended to listen to the conversation around the large glass table we had set up for decoration across the room.

After Obsessed was Don't Trust Me, and Jacob joined in the singing again, and I found it very funny when he sang at Edward, _"Tell your boyfriend, if he says he's got beef, that I'm a vegetarian and I ain't"_ **(word to naughty for young eyes)** _"scared of him."_

The songs that followed included Sexy Bitch, Birthday Sex, She Wolf (which I normally would have skipped, but decided "What the hell?". Edward looked pissed.), and Temperature (again, for the wolves).

Simon kept glancing at clocks. The meeting should have started at seven, but we weren't expecting Wendy home until 7:30. It was eight by the time my playlist reached Good Girls Go Bad, and there was still no sign of our sister.

Jacob was having so much fun messing with Edward that I was laughing through the whole first verse. I calmed down by the time he got to,_ "She was so shy, til I drove her wild. I make them good girls go bad! I make them good girls go bad! You were hanging in the corner with your five best friends. You heard that I was trouble but you couldn't resist. I make them good girls go bad! I make them good girls go."_

In the five seconds between Jake's part and mine, Sara and Devin got up and announced that they were going to go for a walk, and Simon warned them not to be late. They were gone before he finished the warning. I had a feeling I knew the reason for their sudden need for exercise, and put all my acting and flirting into Leighton Meester's parts of the song.

_"I know your type. Boy you're dangerous. Yea you're that guy, I'd be stupid to trust. But just one night couldn't be so wrong. You make me wanna lose control."_ There was eyelash batting and suggestive smirking and Jacob was fighting very hard not to laugh, same as me.

_"She was so shy, til I drove her wild. I make them good girls go bad! I make them good girls go bad!"_

_"I was hanging in the corner with my five best friends. I knew that you were trouble but I couldn't resist."_

I glanced over at the table, as a whole so as not to single anyone out, through my eyelashes. Alice and Emmett were laughing, trying to keep it under control; Jasper was trying to calm his wife; Rosalie was smirking at me-I felt like I should have been blushing- Carlisle was discussing something with Simon, and Esme was staring at Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie disapprovingly. Oh, and Edward was glaring at Jacob as if it was the big wolf's fault that I was so 'bad' all of a sudden. That was the last door he should have been knocking on. First on his list should have been himself, obviously, and P!nk with her bitter sarcastic song of miracles, and then a few other people that I chose not to remember visiting.

_"Oh, she got a way with the boys in the place, treat 'em like they don't stand a chance!"_

_"And he got a way with the girls in the back, acting like they're too hot to dance!"_

_"Yea she got a way with the boys in the place, treat 'em like they don't stand a chance!"_

_"And he got a way with the girls in the back, acting like they're too hot to dance!"_

Suddenly Sara, Devin, and a dazed Wendy came back downstairs, and I paused the music. This would be too good to have to try and hear over the loud playlist.

"Where have you been?!" Simon demanded the very millisecond she stepped through the door. Her smile didn't falter.

"At the movies." Even her voice was dazed.

"And how much of that movie did you actually watch?" I called out, smirking. She returned it.

"What movie?"

I shook my head, turning my attention back to the computer, pretending not to listen to her getting scolded.

"You said you'd be back by eight. It's now 8:33!"

"Sorry, his mom was late! She was doing some shopping and had to pick up Gabe's little brother from his grandma's house!"

Jake cut in then. "Hey, she's here now. So are we gonna decide how to kick some newborn ass? Cuz if not, then we're leaving." He wasn't gonna leave. He, at least, would stick around to visit Amy before heading back to wherever they were located now.

Sighing, Simon agreed, gesturing our visitors into the living room. "Bella," he stared at my jeans pointedly, and after a moment of arguing through our eyes, I pushed myself up into a sitting position, setting the laptop on the lamp table next to my armrest.

Edward, the annoying prick, took the open seat next to me, and Alice squeezed her tiny ass in between him and the other arm rest on the love seat. I gave them each their own specially designed scowl before ignoring them completely.

"So, we've been talking," Carlisle started, standing up to address our tight packed group. I was half tempted to jump up and lay out across the wolves, who were taking up one half of our two-wall couch. The thing was pretty big. But I sat still, a blank look on my face as I stared up at the man I once considered a second father. I had some manners. "And it's probably a good idea to fix this mess before higher forces get involved."

"Higher forces?" Seth asked.

"The Volturi." I hoped no one noticed my wince at the mention of our 'kings'. "They're like, the royal family of vampires. Basically, they enforce our law."

"Vampires have laws?" Jake asked skeptically.

"Just one. Keep the secret." The huge wolf's mouth formed an O."Newborns don't know this, especially ones that have been abandoned, which seems to be the case in this situation. What we've decided is that we'll explain the rules to them, and offer up our alternative, and if that doesn't work we'll let you boys," the five Quileute's eyes narrowed at the term, "take care of them. Agreed?"

Jake, Embry, Seth, Colin, and Brady shared looks before Jake turned back to Carlisle and nodded once.

"We have to find it first," Rosalie pointed out.

"Yes, well we'll have to have some of us running patrols through the town and the woods surrounding it," Simon added.

"We can take care of the woods," Jake chimed in.

"Those four can, Jake, I'm gonna need you for something else." Simon ignored Jake's confused look and continued. "Sara and Wendy, you two patrol the sidewalks."

"Rosalie, Alice, you two will join them," Carlisle instructed, and Wendy and Rose shared a glare and I fought back a grimace on my sister's behalf. "Edward, you and Emmett drive around the streets and keep an eye out."

"Devin, you and Jasper cover the roof tops to get a better view of things," Simon picked up, "And Bella and Jake, you two take the bikes." Jake and I shared a grin and a high five. "Erin and I will stay here and keep things in order." Cell phone numbers were exchanged, to my greatest discomfort, so we could all keep in touch in case something happens.

We all rushed to the entryway, Jake and I in the lead. It had been a while since we'd ridden the bikes together, and we were pumped. I was already pulling my leather jacket out of the closet when the rest of them caught up.

"Hang on, since when can you ride a motorcycle?" Emmett asked, pointing at me.

"Februaury of 2006," I answered with my signature glare.

"So you were still human?" he asked, incredulous. I didn't dignify his idiocy with a response. "Didn't you fall over?"

"Yes, and I took her to the hospital. She kept practicing." Jacob's voice was dangerous, and he was beginning to shake. He didn't like the way Emmett made it sound like I was helpless, and that Jacob was useless. Without another word he and I went out to the garage, grabbing our significant bikes.

We had, of course, traded up in the last thirty years, to get these monstrously huge things a few years ago. His was red and mine was black. He kept his with us, since he only used it for entertainment purposes anyway.

We took off out of the garage at full blast, water from a recent rainstorm spraying up behind us. An opportunity presented itself that I just couldn't pass up, so I took off around the cul-de-sac, spraying water from a recent rain into other yards, and all over Edward, Emmett, and a silver car that I had never seen them drive before. Jacob was right behind me with a second wave, and we laughed as we zoomed out onto the street.

We decided to stay together, that way we'd outnumber this newborn should we have come across it. The few people still on the streets stared at us as we laughed our way past, hidden by the helmets we wore to simply cover our faces, going over double the legal limit. There weren't any police out in our neighborhood. They were all in Melville or on some street close to there, looking for suspects they pretended to have.

At one point, about an hour or so into the ride, I got a call from Erin saying that a converse shoe print saturated with blood had been found on a street that Jacob and I happened to be close to. We slowed down then, because that meant police were back in town. We pulled up where police, news reporters, and a big crowd of people had shown up, removing our helmets to get a better sense of what was going on. I could easily smell the fresh blood, and there were mumblings of a body being discovered just off the side of the highway that led into Astoria.

I took quick breaths at first, desensitizing myself to the sweet aroma while Jake sat trembling on his bike.

"Jake, calm," I reminded him firmly, and he nodded, his eyes squinted closed. I examined the footprint the moment I could see it, taking everything about it to memory. What was now stumping the humans was that the print was in a deserted alley, with nothing but a dead end brick wall of a building that was at least twenty feet high. And there were no exiting footprints. There was, however, a few drops of blood on the wall about five feet up.

"Amateur," I muttered, putting my helmet back on before people noticed us. We started back up, Jake seeming a little calmer, and zoomed around the street to the other side, following the scent of the blood once the trail picked up.

It led us for ten minutes to the edge of the forest, and Jake took off momentarily to contact the pack. When he came back, rezipping his leather jacket, he explained that they hadn't been this way for a while, and that Embry was on his way over to check it out.

A minute later, the giant, thin, grey wolf that is Embry Call appeared at the edge of the trees, sniffing and whimpering what he smelled.

"What is it boy, what do you smell?" I asked, pretending to sound like a perky dog owner. He growled, but didn't turn his head away from the forest floor.

He took off, but was back a few seconds later, shaking his head. He quickly scratched marks into the earth where he last smelled the blood, Jacob explained to me, and then he took off again. I pulled out my cell phone to relay the news.

"Hey Erin, yea, we followed the blood scent to the edge of the forest, and Embry checked it out from there, but it got lost just a few feet in."

"Oh, well, good work. Hang on, Simon's getting a call." I listened as he answered. It was Wendy, and she was in hysterics. There was screaming from her end of the phone, and even though she wasn't on the phone with me I had to pull mine away from my ear because it was that loud. Someone was screaming, and it was a voice that I didn't completely recognize. It was definitely male, though.

"Wendy, calm down! Where are you?"

She must have handed the phone over to, or had it stolen by, Alice. She relayed the street address, and I told Erin we were on our way before hanging up. Jacob had heard everything too, and we followed along the forest edge until a building got in our way and we were forced onto the streets. We barely missed a red light, zooming down the street. A silver car was following us.

We made it there in just over two minutes, and what I saw made me gasp.

**Haha, cliffie! Ok, time for a guessing game! So, I know I didn't add this in the last chapter, but who do you guys think is the mystery girl that is trying to help Edward with Bella? Who do you think was screaming over the phone, besides Wendy? The newborn? Someone else? And lastly, who do you think the newborn is? You can leave your answers in a review or a PM, and if you get it right I'll answer a question you have about the story. Won't that be fun?! Also, I added Edward's and Rosalie's cars, and the motorcycles onto my links page, so check those out! **

**Oh, and this is officially my longest chapter. **

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	14. Scream

**Hey, so I'm going out of town tomorrow and wanted to give you a quick update before I left! IDK when I'll be able to update next because I have a lot of stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Plus I just got Sims3! **

**Oh, and congrats to both alicejasper47 and CatxRock07 for guessing the screamer correctly!**

_Edward-_

"And we're going over there why?" Rosalie asked as we sat around our living room watching TV. We had five minutes until we were supposed to go to Bella's house. My leg was bobbing up and down uncontrollably. Alice finally slapped her hand down on my knee and held my leg in place.

"Calm down!" she hissed.

"Sorry," I muttered back. I had given Bella her space that first week after the dance, but when she never even glanced at me-not once!- I decided it was time to take action. I'd been pleading and begging with her all week to even just look at me. Granted, as a vampire she had become better at hiding her emotions, but I could still see farther into her thoughts than anywhere else. I needed to know if she truly hated me or if it was just a front. And her texting sister hadn't told me anything since that night. It was frustrating.

Simon, her coven's leader, had called us on Thursday to invite us over. This newborn business was getting out of hand, and we agreed to meet at their house at seven.

"I get what you're saying, Carlisle, but if it's just one newborn then I don't see why all of us have to go. I understand that you, as the head of the family, have to, and maybe Emmett and Jasper, but-" Carlisle cut off Rosalie's whiny complaint.

"Because, Rosalie, we make our decision as a family. We're not even sure if it will come to a fight. And for all we know it could be more than one newborn." Rosalie slumped back in to the couch with a 'humph'.

After another two silent minutes we got up and started making our way across the street. Music, loud for a vampire, was blaring out from the basement of Bella's house, and her distinct voice rang out with what I guessed was Jacob Black's voice. We all stopped to listen, because we're just masochists like that.

"_I turn my head to the east, I don't see nobody by my side. I turn my head to the west, still nobody in sight. So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride. That old me's dead and gone, but the new me'll be alright. I turn my head to the east, I don't see nobody by my side. I turn my head to the west, still nobody in sight. So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride. That old me's dead and gone, but the new me'll be alright_!"

"Let's go," Rosalie finally interrupted, shoving her husband in the direction of the front door. I followed the rest of my family, still listening to Bella's singing. _"The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone."_

"Hello," Simon greeted us, shaking hands with Carlisle before gesturing all of us into the house. The lyrics were finally done downstairs, and it was closing with a long instrumental. "Sorry, but Wendy is out, so we won't start for a while if that's alright."

"Oh, that's fine."

"Great." He cocked his head in the direction of the basement door, already looking defeated before he stated just loud enough for her to hear, "Bella, the Cullens are here!"

"Yea, and-?" she asked. I remembered how well mannered she used to be. I didn't deserve it anymore.

"Come say hi," Simon replied.

"I'm entertaining company down here!" she stated. There was disbelieving laughter. "Hey, my singing is entertaining!"

There was some mumbling, followed by a loud smack, and a "Hey!"

"I'll come up when Wendy gets home!"

"I'm sorry for her rudeness. She's been this way as long as I've known her."

Erin, who had been in the living room tidying up some last minute things, entered, rolling her eyes. "Want me to go get her?"

"No, if she wants to stay down there then we'll just have to join her." The blonde's eyes widened for a moment before she shrugged. He motioned for the seven of us to follow them downstairs.

Bella, Sara, Devin, Jacob, and four other large tan boys that, by the smell, were definitely wolves, were sitting in one bend of the basement. Bella was spread out over a loveseat, glaring at Simon. She had on sexy black skinny jeans that had rips over the thighs, a white shirt with a lewd saying across the front, and a messy ponytail. I looked away before anyone caught me staring.

Her friend Jacob was in a recliner set diagonally between the large couch and the one Bella was on, and it looked like he'd stolen her laptop. Sara and Devin were sitting on the floor leaning against Bella's couch, and the middle sized boy was doing the same against the couch seating the other three wolves. Jacob gave Bella back her computer, and a moment later a song I knew all too well thanks to Emmett started playing.

Simon led us over to a glass dining table in the middle of the room. That's where my personal hell began. Having to sit there, watching the love of my existence sing dirty sex songs with another guy, a werewolf, no less, and knowing I can't do anything about it because I gave her up was the worst half hour of my life. The only highlight was when Simon asked how long the first song was, and Esme answered for Bella. Of course it had something to do with Emmett, but just the idea that Esme knew anything about degrading rap music was surprising. After a few songs I was both turned on by Bella singing and murderous because of her friends'.

I was also curious if anything had happened between them. They were sharing a lot of knowing looks. Rosalie, somehow, noticed this, and quickly whispered, so quiet that even I struggled to hear, "They're both virgins."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Those looks are fake, it's obvious."

We watched as Jacob sang a particularly nasty part.

"_I turn you on like a handle, like a television on the weather channel. I make rain girl, now call me Wayne girl, you just an earthling, you aint never been to Wayne's World. I play to win, I bate 'em in, I do my thing, now you're in love with an alien, polow on the beat and Weezy F, I'm at the plate again, Keri if you pitch it at me, I'ma swing away at it, someone better play the fence, someone better tell 'em bout, baby I'm the shit and that's the only thing you smell around me."_

"I'll say," Rose muttered, and one corner of my mouth turned up while a snort of laughter escaped through my nose. She turned back to our family and hosts before I could ask her any other questions.

The two continued singing for a while, and I tried to ignore them for the most part. I looked over when the music stopped.

"Whatcha doin Bells?" her mutant friend asked while leaning over her. She didn't even flinch. I watched them suspiciously out of the corner of my eye, pretending to be involved with the conversation at the table.

"Buying a song we heard the other day. Wendy wanted it," was her response.

"Oh come on, Mariah Carey?!" He and his mutant friends laughed at her, while she and Sara glared.

"It's a fun song!" Sara argued.

"Sure, sure," he reiterated annoyingly.

"Well then go text Amy if you don't want to listen to it."

"I did, she's eating with her family."

"Sucks for you then." The song started from the laptop.

Bella didn't sing at first, and I was relieved. I couldn't take any more of her torture. Then the chorus rolled around, and it was painfully obvious that she was directing it at me, even though she glared at her laptop.

"_Why you so obsessed with me? Boy I wanna know. Lyin that you're sexin me, when everybody knows. It's clear that you're upset with me. Oh, finally found a girl that you couldn't impress. Last man on the earth still couldn't get this. You're delusional, you're delusional. Boy you're losing your mind. It's confusin yo, you're confused, you know. Why you wasting your time? Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex. See right through you like you're bathing in Windex. Oh, oh, oh, boy why you so obsessed with me?_"

"You know, at the part where she says last man on the earth couldn't get this, kinda makes Mariah sound like a lesbian," Emmett stated, challenging Bella with his eyes. No one thought he meant Mariah.

"Maybe she is," Bella responded easily, ignoring our shocked looks. Simon shook his head in disapproval. As surprising as it is, the idea of Bella with another woman wasn't all that appealing to me. Unless she could somehow clone herself, there just wasn't anyone out there that could equal her.

She only sang on the chorus, and I acted as though I wasn't staring at her through my peripherals. I caught her looking up at me, one eyebrow raised suspiciously, and I stayed locked in my position. She looked away after a moment.

The songs got worse from there.

They were no longer rap, but they were just as degrading, if not more so. Her friend Jacob had some sort of death wish, because he was singing along with her and all of a sudden he looks up at me and sings,_ "Tell your boyfriend, if he says he's got beef, that I'm a vegetarian and I ain't"_ **(word still to naughty for young eyes)** _"scared of him."_

He looked away before I could properly react, and Emmett reached across his wife to grip my arm and keep me in my seat. I knew he was right, but it didn't keep me from scowling. He then proceeded to, basically, call Bella a ho, and she sang along with him, and I just kept getting angrier and angrier. And I technically had no right.

More disgusting rap songs played, and then she let the wolves listen to two songs that she didn't even seem to like, but I figured she was doing it to bother me. There was just something about the looks she was giving me.

When the next song came around, I was sure Rosalie had been wrong earlier. The only thing that left doubt in my mind was the way Bella was laughing. But the way he was singing suggested that Jacob had a part in the way Bella is now.

"_She was so shy, til I drove her wild. I make them good girls go bad! I make them good girls go bad! You were hanging in the corner with your five best friends. You heard that I was trouble but you couldn't resist. I make them good girls go bad! I make them good girls go_."

After he finally took a breath, Sara and Devin quickly excused themselves for a walk. Then Bella started singing, and I was so overcome with jealousy that my vision actually went green during the duration of her song. How could a werewolf do that, when I couldn't even get her to talk to me?!

"_I know your type. Boy you're dangerous. Yea you're that guy, I'd be stupid to trust. But just one night couldn't be so wrong. You make me wanna lose control."_

_"She was so shy, til I drove her wild. I make them good girls go bad! I make them good girls go bad!"_

_"I was hanging in the corner with my five best friends. I knew that you were trouble but I couldn't resist."_

I didn't need to take my glare off the muttant (mutant mutt, haha) to know what my family was doing. Carlisle and Simon were discussing England, their country of origin, Rosalie was probably making some sort of face of approval at Bella, as she often did now, Jasper would be trying to calm down his out of control with laughter wife, who was being joined in said laughter by my idiot big brother Emmett, and Esme would be looking at those three, Rose, Alice, and Emmett, with disapproval. We were just that predictable.

_"Oh, she got a way with the boys in the place, treat 'em like they don't stand a chance!"_

_"And he got a way with the girls in the back, acting like they're too hot to dance!"_

_"Yea she got a way with the boys in the place, treat 'em like they don't stand a chance!"_

_"And he got a way with the girls in the back, acting like they're too hot to dance!"_

Before they could finish the song, Devin and Sara returned with a blissful Wendy in tow.

"Where have you been?!" Simon demanded, snapping to his feet. Her smile didn't waver, and even her voice was blissful.

"The movies."

"And how much of that movie did you actually watch?" Bella asked, smirking. Wendy came around and returned it, the excited glint still in her eyes.

"What movie?"

"You were supposed to be back by 7:30. It's now 8:03!" His arms were all over the place, but it was obvious he was already calming down.

"Sorry, his mom was late! She was doing some shopping and had to pick up Gabe's little brother from his grandma's house!" She slumped down onto the couch, squeezing between one of the smaller wolves and the second largest.

"Hey," the muttant cut in, "she's here now. So are we gonna decide how to kick some newborn ass? Cuz if not, then we're leaving."

Simon sighed, agreeing, and we brought our chairs over from the table, and Alice and I offered ours to Sara and Devin, who thanked us and sat down. "Bella?" Simon asked, and they had momentary stare down. She sat up, setting the computer down on the small table by her armrest. Taking the opportunity, I plopped down into the spot beside her. Not to be left out, Alice squeezed her tiny self between me and the armrest. We ignored Bella's glare. After the middle sized wolf on the floor perched himself on the armrest of the big couch, we got started.

"So we've been talking, and it's probably a good idea to fix this mess before higher forces get involved," Carlisle started.

"Higher forces?" the middle wolf asked.

"The Volturi." The wolves looked confused. "They're like the royal family of vampires. Basically, they enforce our law."

"Vampires have laws?" the muttant asked skeptically.

"Just one. Keep the secret." His mouth formed an O and I rolled my eyes. It wasn't that hard of a rule to guess. "Newborns don't know this, especially ones that have been abandoned, which seems to be the case in this situation. What we've decided is that we'll explain the rules to them, and offer up our alternative, and if that doesn't work we'll let you boys," he gestured to the band of wolves, "Take care of them. Agreed." They shared a conversation of looks before Jacob agreed.

"We have to find it first," Rosalie pointed out. Ever the optimist, that girl is.

"Yes, well we'll have to have some of us running patrols through the town and the woods surrounding it," Simon added.

"We can take care of the woods," Jacob offered.

"Those four can, Jake, I'm gonna need you for something else." Everyone seemed confused, but Simon ignored us. "Sara and Wendy, you two patrol the sidewalks."

"Rosalie, Alice, you two will join them," Carlisle instructed, and Wendy and Rose shared a glare. "Edward, you and Emmett drive around the streets and keep an eye out." I nodded, letting Emmett know with my eyes that I was driving. He pulled out his driver's license, something I didn't have, and I glared at it. Stupid laws.

"Devin, you and Jasper cover the roof tops to get a better view of things," Simon picked up, "And Bella and Jake, you two take the bikes." Bella grinned with the muttant, high fiving him. "Erin and I will stay here with Carlisle and Esme and keep things in order."

There was a mad rush to the entryway, and by the time everyone else made it up, Jacob and Bella were pulling leather jackets out of the closet. I stared, wide eyed, at them.

"Hang on, since when can you ride a motorcycle?" Emmett asked, gesturing to Bella.

"February of 06," she responded, glaring of course.

"So you were still human?" she ignored him, zipping up the jacket instead. I closed my eyes after only a second. She just looked too sexy. "Didn't you fall over?"

"Yes, and I took her to the hospital," Jacob bit back, getting really angry really fast. He was starting to shake. "She kept practicing." Without another word the two of them headed out into the garage. Emmett and I headed out the front door and, after making sure no one was watching, we sprinted across the street and to my car, since it didn't stand out as much as his massive truck.

Just as we were about to get in, two over sized motorcycles rode through a giant puddle at the end of our driveway, soaking us from head to toe in water… twice. They didn't slow down, and a round of laughter sounded from underneath the two helmets.

We drove around the nearly empty streets at almost double the speed limit, keeping on the opposite end of town as Bella and her wolf friend. Emmett tried to talk to me about Bella, but I tuned him out. He'd never understood. We got a call after nearly an hour of driving about a bloody shoe print, but we were on the opposite side of town, near the highway leading to Melville. I smelled blood, and shouted at Emmett to stop.

There was a fresh body lying in the ditch. We held our breath and texted Carlisle, who agreed to come and pick up the body before humans could find it. He was a minute too late.

A police officer coming down the highway noticed us stopped. We couldn't run, for fear of looking suspicious, so we started shouting for him to come take a look. After telling him how we were out taking Emmett's new car for a joyride-since I was still 'fifteen' I couldn't own a car-and we saw the body lying there. We were too frozen with shock to make a call.

"Ok, I'll take it from hear boys. And get some sleep, the circles under your eyes are really bad."

We had been forced to breathe during the conversation with the young cop, and we vowed to go hunting at the next possible moment. We texted Carlisle, telling him to stay put if he could. The police had showed up.

It was another fifteen minutes before we got a second call.

"We got him!" Rosalie shouted through some deadly screams and giant sobs. Her voice was strained.

"Rosalie, what's happening?" Emmett asked, concerned.

"Well, there was a victim." Her tone suggested it was someone we knew.

"Who?"

"Come see." She gave us there location while Emmett drove, and he hung up immediately, the screams too much for either of us to bear.

We were forced to an abrupt stop at a light due to an old lady crossing the street, of course. Two familiar motorcycles whipped by in front of us, and the second the lady was out of our way Emmett took off after them.

We were about a mile away from the location when I felt a sudden, and painfully familiar flame shoot up through my body. I screamed in surprised, and was barely aware of Emmett's worried questions."Just drive," I muttered.

The pain wasn't as bad as the first time I'd experienced it, and so I was aware when Emmett stopped the car. I stumbled out behind him and opened my eyes enough to see what was going on.

Gabe.

His mind was the source of our combined pain. Wendy was weeping at his side. Carlisle pulled up just behind us, rushing over to Gabe in full doctor mode. One sniff of the air and he announced softly, The venom's spread too far. There's nothing we can do." This caused a particularly large sob to escape Wendy, and Bella walked over and pulled her into a hug, walking them both backwards in the process.

I tried to ignore the flames as best as possible, and I noticed that Emmett was no longer by me. He was with Jasper and Devin, and the three of them were holding back a wild newborn. His hair was dark blonde, and very messy. He wore tattered clothes that were covered in dry blood. He was snarling like crazy, his glowing red eyes mad with thirst. Erin stood in front of him, looking like she was moments away from sobbing.

"Jonah?" Bella mumbled quietly, staring at the newborn. She knew him? Before I could ask, a large flame lapped at Gabe, causing us both to scream out.

"What's wrong with him," the voice of Simon asked.

"It must be the venom in Gabe. My guess is Edward can read his mind." I nodded in the direction I assumed Carlisle was standing. "Shame. The only mind here that he can read is the one in pain."

And suddenly, it was gone. My eyes snapped open and I looked around, blinking rapidly. Every mind was silent now. I sighed in relief, standing up and brushing the dirt off of my clothes.

"G-Gabe?" I whispered, walking over to kneel by Carlisle. Five giant wolves walked out of the forest, snarling at the figure held captive by my brothers and Devin.

"Jake, we can't kill him," Simon muttered. The largest, russet colored wolf turned to glare, yes glare, at Simon. "We knew him, as a human. He was… close." Erin hid her face in her hands. "I think it would be a good idea to separate them." He gestured between the newborn and his victim. "At least until we can get Gabe cleaned up."

"I know a meadow a few miles away," I suggested. Simon nodded and motioned for me to lead the way.

Wendy, sniffling, picked up Gabe, hissing at anyone that offered to help.

I had discovered the place when we first moved in, and had switched from going there and to the river. It was large, and split down the middle by a small stream. Gabe was brought to one side, Wendy, Carlisle, Esme, Bella, Simon, Sara, Rosalie, Alice, and myself following, while this Jonah character was brought to the other with Devin, Emmett, Jasper, Erin, and the wolves surrounding him. The newborn crumpled to the ground in defeat, whimpering with every breath he took.

"What happened?" Esme whispered, staring sadly down at Gabe. It was always sad when someone was damned to this half-life.

"H-he was… getting a haircut, after I g-g-got dropped off," Wendy started, looking up at us from Bella's arms.

"We found him behind the barber's shop," Rosalie continued in a sad tone. "We think he went outside to make a call."

"We're going to have to set up a murder scene," Carlisle stated solemnly after a moment. Carefully, he pulled out the emergency doctor kit he'd brought with taking the tweezers and picking up some skin that had been pulled off most likely when Jonah had been ripped away from his feast. Carlisle placed it in a vial.

"He," Wendy started again, and she sounded like she was getting her bearings. "He donated blood a few days ago. I had to pretend to make up a test that morning so I wouldn't be by his wound." I nodded, remembering the day as well. I had to excuse myself to the nurse after he picked off the tiny scab.

"We'll need someone to steal that bag. Mix this," he wiggled the vial a little, "in with the blood near the edge of the woods."

"Who could possibly do that without being overwhelmed?" Wendy asked, her tone now defeated, meaning she'd come to terms with what had happened. All eyes turned to Carlisle.

"I can't. I need to stay here and keep track of everything." He looked around at our group, trying to figure out whose records were the cleanest. The two of them seemed to realize who they were right before he stated, "Rosalie and Bella."

**Ooo… What's going to happen with these two working together?! And I bet you didn't see that coming. Jonah! You can still guess at who Edward's little informant is! Oh, and congrats on getting seven reviews last chapter! My goal for this one is eight!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	15. Leaving

**Yes! We got eight reviews! (Plus another one after I wrote this!) And… none of them were from people I know in the real world! Isn't that exciting? That means people are reviewing cuz they want to, and I'm ecstatic! We also reached over a hundred hits for last chapter, and I didn't have to update for that to happen! Also, one away from our hundredth reviewer! Whose it gonna be? (It was Music Loving Bookworm! Thanks so much!)**

**Disclaimer: Hahahahaha, not mine.**

_Bella-_

"Bella, slow down!" Rosalie called after me, only causing me to speed up once again. She'd been ordering me to do the same thing throughout our entire three and a half minute run, and every time she did I'd only gain speed. Maybe she needed to speed up.

"Shut up, we're almost there!" I hissed back, not bothering to turn around and face her. When I reached the end of the forest I leaped upwards, grabbing hold of a tree branch and swiftly pulling myself into a crouching position on it. Rosalie caught up a few seconds later.

We scanned the area surrounding the hospital. Of course, there weren't any humans out and about because of the killings, so we jumped down and jogged through some buildings, our ears pricked for footsteps.

When we got to the hospital things got tricky. We snuck around to the back entrance, slipping in when we didn't hear anybody on the other side. From there I followed Rosalie's lead, since she knew this place just a little bit better than me. She found the way to the basement, and all the way to the room where they stored the donated blood. Neither of us were breathing.

She pulled Carlisle's master key out of her pocket, and we did our best to not look at the bags of sweet blood lining the counters. The B section was in the middle, where Rosalie went sifting through the bags with a pair of rubber gloves until she found his. And all the while there was a possibility that Gabe's blood had already been used.

Luckily it hadn't, and his was near the front. While I held the bag, Rosalie crossed his name off the list of donors using the special pen Carlisle had provided her with; the kind only the hospital staff had in case someone like us came along to steal something. Weirdoes.

Of course I was stuck with the job of carrying the bag all the way to the barber's shop, where Rosalie had to dig through the trash to find a few of Gabe's inch long hair clippings. Haha!

She bagged those, and we made our way to the place where we had first found out that Gabe had been bitten. He had bled a little there before Carlisle could heal his wounds, so we carefully poured out his bag of donated blood in that same area. Next she sprinkled the few hairs she'd grabbed in a section of the small blood pool, and lastly I threw in the piece of skin Carlisle had picked off his neck.

It wasn't one of the best nights of my life.

After that I pulled out the shoes we'd taken from him and dragged them across the dirt to the edge of the forest, to make it appear as if there'd been a struggle. Rosalie followed my path, adding a few last drops every few feet. We were being very specific.

I had his cell phone in my pocket, and I opened up a new text to his mom, typing out Help and hitting send. I then tossed it along the path we'd created, and the two of us headed back to the meadow.

"Seriously, what's the rush?!" she shouted at me after thirty seconds. "That excited to get back to Edward?" I growled at her and sped up again, this time puling myself up into the trees and leaping from branch to branch.

"How did it go?" Simon asked when I broke through the trees, leaping to the ground and landing a few feet away. I jogged the rest of the way over to them, and just as I made it to the circle around Gabe, Rosalie came running out of the forest looking pissed. Simon gave me a suspicious look, to which I merely shrugged.

"Fine, no one saw us." I breathed in a deep breath of air and sighed. A few of them looked into our eyes for proof that we hadn't slipped up, and once they were done I rolled my still golden eyes.

"Good."

Gabe had been cleaned up. Devin must've gone home and gotten some clean clothes, and disposed of the dirty ones, and Carlisle had finished cleaning the wounds and had gotten the rest of the dirt of his face. He'd stopped screaming and was now only making sad whimpers every so often. Wendy was staring sadly down at him.

After a moment I asked, "So we're all just going to sit here until Gabe wakes up?"

"Yes, we'll have much better odds in case something goes wrong, and it will be nice for him to have all of the support he can get." I sighed, and stood up.

"Well in that case, I'll be over there with Erin and the wolves."

Jonah was glaring at Erin when I sat down, and Erin was staring sadly back him. The wolves were posed rigidly in a circle around him.

"You could have told me. I wouldn't have cared."

"You say that now." Erin paused for a moment. "I didn't want this life for you." Ugh, I couldn't listen to this. She sounded like Edward. She had become so much like him since she'd met Jonah, first from always being secretive and 'doing what was best' to leaving him 'for his own good'. It had put a strain between her and me.

I sighed and once again stood up, turning towards the trees. Once I was laying safely across two tree branches I closed my eyes and listened to music in my head. Soon I was drifting off into memories and thoughts.

"Bella," I heard softly after a time. "Bella," the voice repeated, and a light moan escaped my mouth. Did it look like I was in the mood to talk? "Bella!"

"What?!" I sat up, looking down at the idiot that had decided to interrupt my 'me' time. "Oh, it's you." Alice, of course.

"Were you sleeping?" she asked skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"Hardly. What do you want?"

"To talk," she answered simply.

I waited for a moment where nothing was said. "So talk."

"Well, I just wanted to say I was sorry. You know, for leaving without saying goodbye." She actually looked nervous. If I wasn't mad at her for so many things, that site would've been pretty funny.

"Jasper needed you, I understand," I responded in a dry voice.

"I'm also sorry for going along with Edward's stupid plan. I wish I could've seen what would happen earlier. But we all really do miss you, and would like to have you back as part of the family." She stared at the ground in a sad position, her tone filled with heartbreak. Ugh, if she was trying to guilt me into forgiving them, any of them, it wouldn't work. I was onto their little games.

"I wish I could believe you. But who's to say it wouldn't happen again?" I meant to sound more harsh, but whatever. At least I asked the question.

"Things are different now," she insisted in a tone that I found to be rather childish.

"Why, because I'm your equal now?" There was the viciousness I was going for! Point for Bella! "Because suddenly I can fight you and Edward, instead of being guilted or dazzled into agreeing with the two of you?" Her mouth opened and closed, like a fish, and I knew I had her. There was no denying that that's how they'd treated me as a human. "Well, I'm sorry to have to remind you, but you can't live your human experiences through me anymore. So there's no point in you talking to me."

I almost felt bad, but it needed be said. Even if that nearly brought the great and almighty Alice Cullen to tears, or at least it appeared that way. Of course she couldn't actually cry, but the expression on her face would've convinced anyone else.

She took my advice, though, and left me alone.

I couldn't get myself back into a peaceful state of mind, so I went hunting. I caught a few small dear and decided that I still wasn't ready to go back, so I walked around. It didn't make sense. How stupid they think I was? I knew the truth now, I'd been informed; granted, they didn't know that, but still.

_But what if it was a lie?_

'Go away!' I begged, not in the mood for my old self's pro-Cullen attitude. Sure, I was never in the mood for it, but still. Tonight it was extra annoying.

_And how do you know the Cullens are automatically the liars, hmmm?_

I ignored her and headed back to 'camp'.

Jonah was now sitting in the main circle, the wolves sitting in various places just outside. I stood on the forest edge for a moment to listen to the conversation.

"Alright kid, when Gabe wakes up, you, me, and Jasper will take him out to hunt the vegetarian way," Emmett offered.

"I'm coming too," Devin piped in, and Erin nodded. She and Jonah shared a shy smile. Guess they were getting reacquainted. That could be good or bad.

_You really think Erin lied to Jonah too? Or what about Wendy to Gabe?_

'I told you to go away!'

"Alright." He sounded hesitant.

"And you better apologize for this beforehand," Wendy sniffed, lifting her head up from its resting place next to Gabe's shoulder. The boy beside her let out another little shriek, and Jonah winced, obviously remembering his own transformation.

"I will."

Wendy settled back into her place, staring at Gabe's pained face.

Jacob's phone started ringing from the pocket of his shorts that were laying in the forest on the other side of the meadow. At least he'd gotten them off in time. I recognized the ringtone he'd chosen for Amy.

He whimpered, looking sadly at his pack members, and Jonah rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm pretty sure I can control myself for a few minutes while you answer that." Jacob glared at him, but a second later he was sprinting off into the forest.

"I have an idea," Sara suddenly exclaimed, sounding excited. "We should all tell our stories." My contented attitude suddenly turned to fear and agony. This was really bad. Everyone knew that you didn't exchange stories unless you were close with that person. Jasper turned his head in my direction, and a few others noticed.

"How long have you been standing there, Bella?" Devin asked curiously.

"You wanna join us?" Sara asked innocently. "I mean, we all know your story, but still."

And in that moment I made a decision. I'd been warring with it for the past few weeks, but hadn't seriously considered it until that moment. I heard Alice's gasp just before I answered Sara's question. "Um, actually, I think I'm gonna get going." I was fighting hard not to sob as I spoke.

Simon, of course, stepped in. "Bella, I told you, we're all staying here to support Gabe."

I shook my head, staring at the ground. I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to, hurriedly, think of a way to explain myself, while also calculating my timing and the costs of everything I needed. "No, I mean I'm leaving."

"Leaving where?" Edward asked suspiciously, and my temper flared at his voice, as I'd trained it to do so.

"Leaving as in out of the country," Alice cried, and just like that everyone was on their feet staring at me. She wasn't helping her case at trying to win back our friendship.

"Bella, you can't do that!" more than one vampire exclaimed, and a few of the wolves whimpered.

"It's time." I let them all quiet down before I continued. "I don't belong here anymore. I never really did." They all protested heavily, but I ignored them. I needed to get out of here before…

"What's going on?" Jacob questioned from the forest, naked except for his shorts, which were being held up by his hand alone.

"Bella's leaving!" Edward shot at him without turning in his direction. I glared at my ex.

Jacob was in front of me in a second. "Are you crazy! You can't go anywhere! Not without me!"

My eyebrow cocked in disbelief. "And Amy?" His determined expression wavered and he stared at his feet. "Exactly. Jacob, face it, I don't fit in here anymore. They're all really close friends now," I gestured to the Cullens and my family, "And I know they all think I can just move past what happened and forget about it, but I can't. I can't just open myself up to that hurt again." Carlisle and Simon shared a look. "Things are changing, and it doesn't include me."

"Whose gonna give me girl advice when I mess things up?" Jacob asked pitifully after a moment, and one corner of my mouth turned up sadly.

"You won't mess up Jake." I turned my attention on the group as a whole. "Nobody look for me, got it?" My tone was much more serious, and I stared straight at Alice for a moment, hoping she would catch my double meaning for her. She glared at her designer shoes, and I knew she understood.

Just then Gabe let out a painfully loud screech, and everyone turned to glance at him. I was long gone before they could even turn around.

**:O I bet no one saw that coming! Hey, up until a few days ago I didn't either! I always knew there'd be splits in the families, people taking different sides, but then the idea occurred to me to have Bella leave. So I ran with it. I know that chapter's short, but I couldn't think of much foreplay leading up to this, and I definitely couldn't write anything after it! So, please review! There'll be a time jump in the next chapter! I'm hoping I can fit enough into it where I can wait until the chapter after it before revealing anything new about Bella. If that made any sense. We'll see. So yea, review!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


	16. Vision

**Hey, so, I'm officially back in school and have less time to update! Wah! I would've updated beforehand, but all of my friends wanted to do stuff with me this past week! Sorry! Who knew I was actually popular?! (I'm really not, though.) Anyway, I tried to get this up as quick as I could! Enjoy.**

_Edward (6 months later)-_

I was still beating myself up. How could I have been so stupid? Of course Bella had been the thing blocking others' thoughts from me! Her mind was the only one I'd ever not been able to read, and it only happened around her! I was still mad at Alice for keeping that from me.

"Edward, I'm sorry," she'd said when I'd confronted her. It had been a day and a half since Bella left, and Sara absently wondered if she planned to keep her mind shield up from wherever she was going. She wasn't.

So I of course then found out about all of their special talents, and it took a lot of persuasion to talk Emmett and Jasper out of ripping Sara to pieces when I told them about her mind control power. She was the reason they were still being teased about their karaoke performance at the party. And let's not forget the little stunt Wendy had pulled with the chair at our house on Rosalie that first day we'd met. I was keeping that one to myself.

Gabe woke up shortly after that, and for the moment Bella was forgotten by everyone, except for Jacob and me. Wendy explained everything to the newborn, and about our dietary choices, and Jonah apologized a bit grudgingly.

Gabe was a little mad at first, but understood why he'd been kept in the dark. Mostly he was excited to be in on the secret. He'd been suspicious for a while.

We spent the rest of Christmas break in the meadow, taking Gabe and Jonah hunting almost daily. Jonah finally explained what he had been doing all the way out here; since we'd been informed that he was born and raised in Maine.

He had been created as part of a newborn army, and, because fate had always had some sort of problem with Bella, Victoria was the lead of that army. An army being built specifically to target Bella.

That was, until Victoria had realized that Jonah was gone. It didn't take her too long to put the pieces together, as Alice informed us, and she quickly destroyed the rest of her newborns. Now the redhead's plans were changing, but it was impossible for Alice to get a read on just how they were changing. Only time would tell.

In the meantime, the rest of us tried contacting Bella. We called her cell phone numerous times with different numbers, even restricting them a few times. But after a day or so, we were informed that the number we had dialed was no longer in service. I tried picking Alice's confusing mind for any hints as to where Bella was headed, or had arrived at, but found nothing. The damn pixie was an expert at hiding her thoughts from me.

It was earlier today when Alice finally got something on Victoria. It was heartbreaking for us Cullens.

Victoria had met up with Irina, one of the three Denali sisters, who explained to the redhead that she'd been traveling alone for nearly thirty years. She had been considering going back to her sisters when she'd seen us with the wolves that had destroyed her mate. They hadn't even been together for a year when a pack of wolves destroyed him, and once she explained who her mate was, Victoria had gotten a new idea for revenge.

She explained how Laurent had traveled with her and her mate, James (that detail left me momentarily stunned), for a while. Then she told of the events that had happened in the spring of '05, and Irina bristled at the mention of us. Turned out, she'd seen us all hunting with the wolves a few days earlier and assumed we were friends with them. It was the ultimate betrayal to her, and she and Victoria came up with a plan to get us all destroyed.

Irina was going to go to the Volturi. She'd been planning on simply telling them about the wolves and asking to join their ranks. However, Victoria, no doubt so Irina would believe it, convinced the former Denali member that we, the Cullens, Simon's coven of seven, and the five wolves, were building up an army to bring down the power of our leaders.

This chance meeting between the two would happen in less than ten minutes, all the way in a forest just outside New York. There was no way we could reach them in time. Emmett insisted we take action immediately, but Alice told him to wait. She couldn't tell if the Volturi would react to the news, or simply destroy Irina on the spot and then hunt down Victoria. Obviously she couldn't simply go to them herself, due to her attempt at starting a newborn army. Alice saw that Victoria would effectively use her talent of evasion to avoid any meeting between her hand and Aro's.

And so, until Irina could make it to Volterra, we would simply have to wait.

We went to school as normal, the wolves and Carlisle, who'd taken the night shifts at the hospital since Gabe and Jonah had arrived, were watching over the two newest vegetarians while we finished up the school year. It was pretty uneventful, sine we'd done this many a time before. We had to suffer through the hours of finals, pretending to struggle with a few things on each test, until we were finally released for the summer.

All of our human friends missed Gabe terribly, and we'd put up a similar front. Of course we knew what really happened, and none of us had a reason to miss him, but we pretended. Wendy barely spoke during the day, since she could muster up enough grief to sound in mourning. Things were lightening though, with the end of school and the passing of time, and so he wasn't spoken of as much.

Two days after our summer began Alice got the vision she'd been waiting for. The Volturi had received Irina's message, and they had decided to pay us a visit. None of us were all that surprised by the news, though. The Volturi had been waiting for an excuse to lighten the numbers of our coven, and now with us doubling our numbers they had their reason. Nobody would judge them for stopping an 'army' from rising. They'd be heroes.

Carlisle finally granted Emmett permission to take action.

Of course Jasper was in charge of the planning. He created a list of vampires that any of us knew, as well as their location. We opted not to contact the other members of the Denali coven, not wanting to put them into an uncomfortable situation. From what Alice could see, and wasn't showing me, they had no idea of Irina's whereabouts, and had been searching for her for quite some time.

Carlisle and Esme would be heading out to Europe to contact the Irish Coven as well as the nomads Carlisle knew out there. Emmett and Rosalie were going to the Amazon. There were three sisters down there with a passion for battle. And one of them had a talent that could prove to be very useful. Simon had met quite a few nomads during his earlier travels so he was going to go out and find them. Jasper mentioned Peter and Charlotte, and Sara said they'd met them once. Simon would be going to Egypt, where he had once been rather close with a vampire a century or two ago.

Jasper was staying behind to navigate the operation, and Alice was staying behind incase anything would change in the future. As of now, the Volturi were set to come at the beginning of August. Erin and Wendy were staying with their respective mates, who weren't yet mature enough to travel anywhere. I would be staying as back up should anything go wrong, as well as the wolves.

They left two days after Alice's vision, and the rest of us packed up the things we would be needing and moved out to a cabin Esme had been working on not too far away. That was when the true torture began. Two weeks alone with Alice and her never ending stream of thoughts of _Why didn't you go after her?!_

"Because I had no right," I would explain every time, my tone letting her know the conversation was over. Then she would sit and glare at me for an hour before the cycle would repeat itself. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.

_Alice's POV-_

He was an idiot! The biggest idiot I'd ever met in my existence! And we were all nearly as bad for listening to him. This whole situation was just messed up! It was time I intervened.

Of course I had lied when they'd asked me if the Denali's would be upset with us calling them. It was difficult, since Bella was no longer around to guard my mind from Edward's, but I managed. I had actually downplayed the events that had occurred between Irina and the rest of the Denalis. It had been a huge blowout. Laurent hadn't been with them for more than ten months, and Irina was ready to throw away a century old friendship with our family just to get revenge? They weren't pleased with their sister's proposal. I hadn't told any of them because I never saw Irina acting on her plans, not alone. There was no reason to upset the rest of them; not when they were upset enough over leaving Bella.

But I could see how this would play out if we asked Tanya, Kate, Carmen, and Eleazar to join us. They would be more than happy to fight with us. There was just a slight problem I needed to deal with on my own terms. Something Carlisle would strongly disagree with. I had been waiting for him to leave.

"Well, it'll be a while before anything happens. I think I'm going to go for a hunt. Any of you care to join me?" Jasper inquired, standing up to stretch his arms. The corner of my mouth twitched upward, a signal for him that he was doing great. I'd only told him I needed to do something alone and that I would explain later. He promised to clear the house for me to do it.

"I think I will," Gabe complied, standing from the couch. Wendy rose to her feet as well, her hand never leaving Gabe's, and it didn't take Erin and Jonah long to follow. The wolves were on their paws in an instant, to the annoyance of the newborns.

"You coming, Edward?" Jasper asked calmly. I began to practice the Nordic Characters.

Just as my dearest brother was set to refuse, his eyes went black and Jasper smirked ever so slightly. He uncertainly stood up from his recliner, sending me a suspicious look.

Æ, ä, ø, ö, å… Then he was gone. I whipped out my cell phone, knowing how he liked to hunt quick, and dialed the number for Tanya's cell phone.

"_Hello?"_ she was about to answer, but I beat her to the punch.

"Tanya, it's Alice, Alice Cullen."

"Oh, hey A-"

"Listen, I don't have time for pleasantries. Irina is going to the Volturi." I proceeded to tell her the full story once I knew I had her full attention. "So, do you think you guys could help us?" I asked hesitantly, searching the future even as the words left my mouth. Sure enough, I saw all four of them standing with us. There was just one other unsolved piece of that future puzzle. "Oh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me and the rest of my family! Now, I just have one little favor to ask."

"What?" she asked uncertainly.

"Could you please hand the phone over to Bella? I need to talk to her."

**:O Bet none of you saw that coming! Mwahaha! I'll have Bella's POV next chapter! Sorry for the shortness, but I just wanted to get this up! It's not too bad though. It's a couple thousand words. Please review! I didn't get very many last time and I was sad. :'(**

**Luv Wendy! :)(: **


	17. Return

**Hey, so I'm really sorry this is rather late! School is kind of bringing me down. Lots of drama and all that, but I'm over it. I think I've figured out who my real friends are now, so it's all good! And I had a dance last night, so I'm really pumped! I was also a bit confused with this chapter, and not entirely sure what to do with it. So yea. Here it is!**

_Bella-_

"Mam, for the last time, this is the express line. You need to have ten items or less." Three minutes. That's how long the old coot had been standing there arguing with me in the tiny Alaskan grocery store. She was trying to convince me that the frosting and the cake mix went together, so they could not be counted as two separate items. It was the same with the chips and dip, the hot chocolate and milk, the graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows. All together she had a total of fifteen items. Why this cramped piece of hell even bothered to have an express line was beyond me.

"How dare you use that tone of voice with me young lady?! Why, when Tony was working here I never had this sort of trouble…" her voice trailed off in my head as I began to recap what a mess my existence had become.

Alaska had been my first choice, of course. With the sun setting for the entire winter, it was my perfect getaway. I'd ran back to the house and grabbed any of my money I could find lying around, as well as packed a bag of winter clothes and other necessities to keep up a human façade. I was in and out in under a minute, sprinting at top speed through the forests to Anchorage. I would've stopped in Juneau, but I wanted there to be a bit of a country between me and my old 'families'.

"Is there a problem here?" Oh boy, the manager. I put on my best smile, which wasn't very impressive as of late, and batted my eyelashes.

"I was just trying to explain to this kind woman that the express line only takes ten items or less, and she has fifteen." My sweet voice had also been a bit off recently, but I was quite certain it still had the intended effect. I hadn't been fired yet, had I?

"This hoodlum has been nothing but rude and disrespectful," I rolled my eyes. _I'd_ been disrespectful? Please, she was the one calling names. And I was no hoodlum to her. She had, what, ten years over me? Too bad she didn't know it.

"Bella, why don't you take the rest of the day off to get your head straight and come back tomorrow? You can make up your hours then." This time I held off the eye roll until I was safely outside in the late evening clouds. Unfortunately, the sun had this annoying habit of rising after a certain period of time, and I'd been forced to change shifts.

Pulling out the headphones to my MP3 player, I pressed play and let my playlist shuffle around while I wandered aimlessly through the streets. I was nowhere close to being ready to return to my shitty hotel room. Yea, I upgraded from shitty motels.

I'd been gone six months now, and I was relatively surprised Alice hadn't told anyone where I'd gone. Either that or no one really cared. I was leaning towards the latter.

I had only managed to get through a few songs when a strange smell crossed my nose. I glanced up to see a vampire staring wide-eyed at me from twenty feet away. What made me gasp was that the wide eyes happened to be the exact shade of gold as mine.

She was beautiful, reddish-blonde hair curling down her back and over designer jacket clad shoulders. She had a few inches of height on me, and for the briefest portion of a second I believed Rosalie had been stalking me. The facial structure was way different, however, and yet equally as beautiful, and that resulted in my lip being pulled under my teeth as an old self-conscious habit.

Her head cocked to the side as she surveyed me, and my attention was once again directed to her eyes. There was a sharp tug at my memory, but it was unbearably fuzzy, meaning it was from when I was human, and I didn't have the time to try and interpret one of those memories. All I could manage was a large field and James's coven; specifically, Laurent.

She began to approach me then, and I stood stock still, testing the air with my nose to make sure no one else was around. There wasn't, which was understandable seeing as it was nearly midnight and cloudy. At the same time I pulled out my headphones, more as a courtesy than a necessity and stuffed my music player back into the pocket of my jacket.

"Hello," she began a bit uncertainly once she was a foot away.

"Um, hi."

"Pardon me for my forwardness but have you seen a woman around here any time recently? She has platinum blonde hair that goes to about here," she pointed to her chin while I gave her a suspicious look, "with golden eyes. She'd be about an inch taller than you." I shook my head no, still a bit weirded out by the question. "Damn, she was supposed to meet us here a week ago but she never showed. My coven members and I have been searching the area for her." She glanced around for a moment before her gaze returned to me and she appeared shocked. "Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners?! I'm Tanya."

She held out her and, which I shook, but I did not offer my name. I was still suspicious of my human memory tugging at my brain, which my annoying part was trying to decipher.

Just then Tanya's phone rang, and she whipped out, her eyes darting to the screen for a short moment before she opened it. She hadn't even gotten her greeting out before a very familiar voice was talking into it.

"Tanya, it's Alice, Alice Cullen." My eyes went wide, and I considered fleeing. But something rooted me in place. And that something was my old self discovering where I'd remembered Tanya from. She was part of the only other vegetarian coven before mine. The one that Laurent had gone to stay with between the time his old coven attacked me and the time he did.

"Oh, hey A-" Tanya began to respond but was cut off by the pushy pixie.

"Listen, I don't have time for pleasantries. Irina's going to the Volturi." I had the pieces fitted together before Alice had even begun to explain anything to Tanya thanks to the memory that was suddenly much clearer. Irina must be the woman Tanya and her family had been looking for. Something Laurent had said to me, that day in the meadow that he changed me, popped out from that specific memory. _'__Ah, but that's the beauty of having one of the members of a family are wrapped around your finger. You can pretty much get away with anything you want.'_ That too must have been Irina, I deduced, and that must have been why they were meeting up with her. She must have run away after Laurent had been destroyed by the wolves.

I had not, however, been expecting Victoria to be involved in Irina's latest disappearance. She was going to the Volturi because Victoria had convinced her that the Cullens, my old family, and the wolves were building up an army when, in actuality, it was Victoria that had been building an army, a part of which Jonah had been created for. This was turning out to be one complicated puzzle.

What Alice said after that wasn't all that surprising, yet it angered me just the same.

"So do you think you guys could help us?" Tanya didn't have a chance to respond before, "Oh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means me and the rest of my family! Now I just have one little favor to ask." My hand was already outstretched for the phone.

"What?" Tanya asked uncertainly, not even noticing my movement. She was rooted in place from this strange turn of events.

"Could you please hand the phone over to Bella? I need to talk to her."

Tanya's eyes darted around for a moment, coming to rest on my hand and then immediately moving to my face. Without a word she handed the phone to me, her mouth agape. She didn't look as confused as I'd assumed she'd have been.

"Do you have to constantly be stalking me?" I asked resignedly after taking the phone.

"Bella, I've known about you running into Tanya for since the minute they decided to go to Anchorage. I was lucky enough to get the others out in time." I rolled my eyes. "You'll be joining them right?"

"Alice, I can't. There's just-" I couldn't tell her the problem though. It would be too hard to explain and she'd be very disapproving. Then again…

"I know what's wrong Bella. I saw you take that 'trip' all those years ago." I could hear the air quotes in her sentence. Figures she'd seen that. But wait! "And no, I haven't told anyone. Believe it or not, but I don't need you to guard my mind from Edward. You just made things a little easier is all." The conversation paused for a moment while her teasing subsided. "I think you should stand up to them."

My teeth were grinding together, but I couldn't stop them. Memories of those six months were flooding back, and it took a lot of focus to get them to go away.

"Please Bella?"

"Ok fine!" I exploded, impatience and anger all boiling over. "I'll come and help you guys out. But that's it. After that I'm leaving."

"I know," Alice responded, hurt and resignation resounding in her musical voice. "See you tomorrow."

I handed Tanya's phone back to her.

"So you're Bella Swan, then?" she asked, sounding amused and excited all at once. I started walking in the direction of my hotel, expecting her to follow. She did.

Sighing, I confirmed her suspicions. "How'd you know?"

"The Cullens came to stay with us for a while after they left Forks. They told us about you."

"Yea, about how they never really cared about me?"

She shook her head no, a small smile gracing her lips. "No, that was a lie. Oh, I probably shouldn't be saying any of this to you. It's not really my place."

"Edward already tried telling me 'the truth' back in December."

"So I'm guessing you've seen them since you've been changed." I nodded, staring at my feet as I walked. Another old habit. "What happened?"

Tanya and I walked, at a humanly pace, the twenty or so blocks to my hotel. During that time I explained everything to her. About why the wolves had to destroy Laurent, and not just because he was too close to their land. I told her about meeting Wendy, Sara, and Devin, and later Simon and Erin, and about when the Cullens moved to Astoria while we were still living there. I told her everything, except about my mysterious six month trip, which up until recently I'd been under the impression that no one knew the details of.

"Bella, Edward was telling you the truth that night." I rolled my eyes. Like I was about to believe some stranger. "I'm serious. I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't think you were one hundred percent right for him." I didn't try to hide my confusion at her words. A breathy, nervous laugh escaped her throat before she elaborated. "I've always sort of had a bit of a crush on Edward." I didn't respond, because I shouldn't have been affected by that. He wasn't mine anymore, so I had no right to care who had feelings for him and who he may have had feelings for. "It's never been anything serious, though, just kind of a game. You see, he's the only man I've ever wanted physically," I shuddered internally but held up my blank mask and let her continue, beating Old Bella back into the corner of my mind. "that has ever resisted. Sorry if this is uncomfortable, but I felt you should know."

"Why? I'm not with him anymore, and I have no plans of being so ever again." She sighed, sounding disapproving. We had arrived at my hotel by that point, and I made a move for the door.

"Don't be so sure of that." I turned back to her, glaring suspiciously, but she merely winked and started walking in the other direction; most likely towards a swankier hotel. "Oh, and we'll be by to pick you up at five tomorrow morning."

She took off running before I could object.

_Edward-_

"Ok, what's happened?" Alice would not settle down. She'd been hyped up for almost twenty four hours, and not even Jasper had managed to calm her down. Even the guard she had on her thoughts was slipping, since I'd so far been able to see a glimpse of a Howard Johnson 'plaza' which admittedly wouldn't be so back for a middle classman, a GMC Denali XT, and the time 12:36pm. It was 12:33 currently.

"You'll see," she answered mysteriously. She wasn't even bothering to deny it anymore. Her head, hung upside down with the rest of her from a tree, was glued in the direction of the impossibly long driveway that led to Esme's latest masterpiece, a 'cabin' set on a very large field in the middle of the woods. It was actually more like a mansion made out of logs with a cabin theme to the décor. It was three stories tall, not including the basement, and consisted of five unnecessary bathrooms, and eleven bedrooms.

Mine was on the top floor, and was the only room occupying one person. The wolf boys split up the other two rooms on that floor, and pretty much ignored my presence whenever they came across it. None of us really paid them any mind, aside from Gabe and Wendy.

The level below ours was housing Alice and Jasper in one room, which Emmett and Rosalie would share with them once they returned, and a different room would be occupied by Simon, Devin, and Sara once they returned.

The main floor was, as of now, unoccupied aside from the unneeded kitchen and dining room, and a smaller living room. However, when Carlisle and Esme returned they would have the master bedroom, which really wasn't much larger than the other rooms.

And we were forced to shove the newly mated pairs in the basement, which only had two bedrooms plus the large living room and a laundry room. It didn't help them much, however.

Alice was getting bouncier by the second, though she'd managed to get her guard back up, meaning I could get no more from her thoughts. Jasper was leaning against her tree, facing me with his eyes also trained on the road, so I began picking at his brain. He, however, was focused on calming his wife down, despite the impossibility of that task.

My MP3 player, which was hooked up to the outdoor speakers, began playing a song that made me groan, despite its accuracy. Not Meant to Be was exactly how I was beginning to feel about the whole situation with Bella. I should have just gone after her when I had the chance. Of their own accord, my eyes wandering off into the distance.

I was two and a half minutes into the song when Alice flipped off her branch and, like a cat, landed on her feet. Jasper stood at her side and the two of them made their way to the driveway, their eyes locked on the forest. I used the speaker remote to turn up my music ever so slightly.

And then I heard the song coming from the unseen Denali. Just as my song reached the third chorus, the song from the grey vehicle reached its most hurtful part, and there was no doubt in my mind who was playing it. The volume on their song only increased, undoubtedly, upon hearing my music.

_I need you like a heart needs a beat  
But it's nothing new  
Yea, yea  
I loved you with the fire red  
Now it's turning blue  
And you say  
Sorry like the angel heaven let me think was you_

The vehicle came into sight at this point, breaking through the trees about a half a mile out, and I tried to make out the owner of the music player, but the windows were tinted too dark. This time I went louder.

_I finally see  
Maybe we're not meant to  
It's like one step forward and two steps back  
No matter what I do you're always mad  
And I  
Baby I'm sorry to see  
Maybe we're not meant to be_

I didn't bother to get up as the large Denali rolled into the driveway, and by now I'd figured out who had escorted Bella here. I should've realized the minute Alice had a vision of an actual Denali that it would be the Alaskans. I was curious as to how they knew Bella, but I knew I would get my answers shortly, so I stayed where I was. Bella most certainly wasn't back for me, so I had no reason to bother.

Tanya stepped out of the driver's side, and Kate the passenger's. Carmen and Eleazar had taken the middle seats, which gave Bella the entire back row. I could just picture her stretched out over the seats, her head resting on the place meant for her arm, as she'd continued to increase the volume on her MP3 player, which she'd decided to shut off after the chorus. She took her time getting out of the vehicle.

"Surprise!" Alice called over to me once the Denali was empty of people, but my eyes were locked on Bella's golden glare.

**Ok, so this one was a toughie at first, but I made it through! It's sort of random, but oh well. It's an update! Oh, and I've decided to rewrite this once I'm finished. I'll explain more when I reach the end of this, but yea. It's not a guarantee, but it's a definite possibility. So, any guesses as to Bella's mystery trip? Review and let me know!**

**Luv Wendy! :)(:**


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